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BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES 

OF  THE  DELEGATES  FROM  GEORGIA 

TO   THE    CONTINENTAL 

CONGRESS 


BY 


CHARLES  C.  JONES,  JR.,  LL.D. 

AUTHOR  OF  "THE  HISTORY  OF  GEORGIA,"  "NEGRO  MYTHS  FROM 
THE  GEORGIA  COAST,"  ETC. 


BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 
HOUGHTON,   MIFFLIN    AND    COMPANY 

C&e  HtoergiUe  Press, 

1891 


G  337 


All  rights  reserved. 


The  Riverside  Press,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 
Printed  by  H.  0.  Houghton  &  Company. 


To 
THOMAS  ADDIS  EMMET,  M.  D.,  LL.  D., 

OP  NEW   YORK    CJTY, 

WHOSE    INTELLIGENT,    GENEROUS,    AND    INDEFATIGABLE 

RESEARCHES  AND    ACQUISITIONS 
HAVE   ACCOMPLISHED  SO   MUCH  IN   RESCUING   FROM   OBLIVION 

NAMES  AND  EVENTS 
MEMORABLE   IN   THE   HISTORY   OF   AMERICA, 

(Stfafe  g*etcfe$ 

ARE   CORDIALLY  INSCRIBED. 


$.28829 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

BENJAMIN  ANDREW 1 

ABRAHAM  BALDWIN 5 

NATHAN  BROWNSON 11 

ARCHIBALD  BULLOCH 14 

JOSEPH  CLAY 28 

WILLIAM  FEW 34 

WILLIAM  GIBBONS 40 

JAMES  GUNN 44 

BUTTON  GWINNETT 48 

JOHN  HABERSHAM 68 

JOSEPH  HABERSHAM .  80 

LYMAN  HALL 88 

JOHN  HOUSTOUN 106 

WILLIAM  HOUSTOUN 118 

RICHARD  HOWLEY        .                120 

NOBLE  WYMBERLEY  JONES 124 

EDWARD  LANGWORTHY 137 

LACHLAN  McINTOSH 139 

WILLIAM  PIERCE 155 

SAMUEL  STIRK 160 

EDWARD  TELFAIR 161 

GEORGE  WALTON 168 

JOHN  WALTON 199 

JOSEPH  WOOD 201 

JOHN  JOACHIM  ZUBLY                                                                       .  203 


PREFACE. 


IN  the  retaliatory  acts  passed  by  the  Royalist  Assem 
bly  which  convened  in  Savannah  in  1780,  the  follow 
ing  members  from  Georgia  of  the  Continental  Congress 
were  attainted  of  high  treason ;  their  property,  real  and 
personal,  was  vested  in  the  Crown  ;  and  they  were  de 
clared  incapable  of  holding  or  exercising  any  office  of 
trust,  honor,  or  profit :  — 

"  JOHN  HOUSTOUN,  Eebel  Governor. 
LACHLAN  MC!NTOSH,  Eebel  General. 
GEORGE  WALTON,  Member  of  Rebel  Congress. 
JOSEPH  CLAY,  Rebel  Paymaster-General. 
N.  WYMBERLEY  JONES,  Speaker  of  Rebel  Assembly. 
EDWARD  TELFAIR,  Member  of  Rebel  Congress. 
RICHARD  HOWLEY,  Rebel  Governor. 
WILLIAM  FEW,  Rebel  Counselor. 
EDWARD  LANGWORTHY,  Rebel  Delegate. 
JOSEPH  WOOD,  Member  of  the  Rebel  Congress. 
BENJAMIN  ANDREW,  President  of  the  Rebel  Council. 
NATHAN  BROWNSON,  Member  of  Rebel  Congress. 
LYMAN  HALL,  Member  of  the  Rebel  Congress. 
JOSEPH  HABERSHAM,  Rebel  Colonel. 
JOHN  HABERSHAM,  Rebel  Major. 
WILLIAM  GIBBONS,  the  elder,  Rebel  Counselor. 
SAMUEL  STIRK,  Rebel  Secretary." 


viil  PREFACE. 

resolves,  just  in  the  exercise  of  his  powers,  loyal  in 
his  opinions,  courteous  in  his  intercourse,  thrifty  in 
the  conduct  of  his  private  affairs,  and  exhibiting  the 
operations  of  a  vigorous  and  well-balanced  judgment, 
he  secured  the  respect  and  the  affection  of  his  people. 
Although  differing  from  many  of  the  inhabitants  upon 
the  political  questions  which  were  then  dividing  the 
public  mind,  he  never  suffered  himself  to  be  betrayed 
into  acts  of  violence  or  of  revenge.  He  preferred  to 
counsel,  to  enlighten,  and  to  exhort.  It  excites  no 
surprise,  therefore,  that  his  influence  —  vigorously 
exerted  in  encouraging  loyalty  to  his  royal  master 
and  submission  to  the  acts  of  Parliament  —  should 
have  had  great  -weight  in  retarding  the  progress  of 
rebel  thought,  and  in  restraining  Georgia,  at  the  out 
set,  from  casting  her  lot  with  her  sister  American 
Colonies,  and  commissioning  delegates  through  whom 
she  might  participate  in  the  adoption  of  measures 
which  precipitated  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  The 
apparent  tardiness  and  hesitancy  on  the  part  of  the 
Province  in  joining  the  Confederation  at  the  inception 
of  those  movements  which  culminated  in  a  declaration 
of  independence  may  be  further  excused  or  accounted 
for  when  we  remember  that  she  was,  of  all  the  origi 
nal  Thirteen  Colonies,  the  youngest  and  least  prepared 
for  the  struggle,  and  when  we  recall  the  fact  that 
Schovilites,  leagued  with  Indians,  were  scourging  her 
borders,  and  awakening,  in  the  breasts  even  of  the 


PREFACE.  ix 

most  patriotic  and  daring,  gravest  apprehensions  for 
the  safety  of  their  wives  and  children.  In  the  lan 
guage  of  Captain  McCall,  "  The  charge  of  inactiv 
ity  vanishes  when  the  sword  and  hatchet  are  held 
over  the  heads  of  the  actors  to  compel  them  to  lie 
still." 

While  the  record  of  the  services  of  the  members 
from  Georgia  in  the  Continental  Congress  may  not 
be  as  brilliant  or  as  valuable  as  that  of  some  of 
the  Delegates  from  other  Colonies  (with  the  exception 
of  the  Reverend  Doctor  Zubly,  and  possibly  of  General 
Gunn,  who  never  took  his  seat),  they  were  all  good  and 
true  men,  capable  and  most  earnest  in  the  support  of 
the  common  cause.  Many  of  them  were  gentlemen  of 
high  culture,  superior  education,  and  attractive  social 
and  political  virtues.  Fourteen  of  them,  in  one  capa 
city  or  another,  bore  arms  in  the  struggle  for  inde 
pendence  ;  ten  were  members  of  the  legal  profession ; 
six  were  merchants ;  three  were  physicians ;  one  was 
a  clergyman  ;  and  not  less  than  ten  were  interested 
in  agricultural  operations.  Engraved  portraits  have 
been  made  of  Abraham  Baldwin,  Archibald  Bulloch, 
Joseph  Clay,  William  Few,  Button  Gwinnett,  John 
Habersham,  Joseph  Habersham,  Lyman  Hall,  Noble 
Wymberley  Jones,  Lachlan  Mclntosh,  and  George 
Walton.  Of  the  others,  so  far  as  we  can  discover, 
no  likenesses  exist. 

After  the  lapse  of  so  many  years,  and  in  the  absence 


X  PREFACE. 

of  recorded  memories,  it  is  difficult,  nay  impossible, 
to  present  as  full  and  accurate  sketches  as  we  would 
wish.  Having,  however,  utilized  all  the  materials  at 
command,  we  commit  this  manuscript  to  the  printer 
in  the  hope  that  what  we  have  attempted  for  Georgia 
may  be  better  accomplished  by  others  in  behalf  of 
the  remaining  commonwealths  associated  in  the  brave 
and  patriotic  Confederation  of  "  The  Original  Thir 


teen." 
AUGUSTA,  GEORGIA,  1891. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


BENJAMIN  ANDREW.       •, j  /,\  ^  j  •-  • 

BORN  in  Dorchester,  South  Carolina,  about  1730, 
Mr.  Andrew  led  the  life  of  a  planter.  He  came  of 
that  sturdy  Puritan  congregation  which,  abandoning 
England  in  1630,  after  a  residence  of  some  sixty-five 
years  in  Massachusetts,  removed  to  South  Carolina 
and  formed  a  settlement  on  the  northeast  bank  of 
the  Ashley  River  about  eighteen  miles  above  Charles 
Town.  In  1754  Mr.  Andrew,  bringing  his  family  with 
him,  left  Dorchester  in  South  Carolina,  and  made  a 
new  home  in  the  Midway  District,  subsequently  con 
stituting  a  part  of  St.  John's  Parish  in  the  Colony  of 
Georgia.  Here  he  became  the  owner  of  a  swamp 
plantation  and  engaged  in  the  cultivation  of  rice. 

In  the  preliminary  discussions  and  demonstrations 
which  eventuated  in  a  declaration  of  independence  on 
the  part  of  the  parish  of  St.  John  and  afterwards  of 
the  Colony  of  Georgia,  Mr.  Andrew  allied  himself  with 
the  revolutionists,  and,  in  company  with  Lyman  Hall, 
Button  Gwinnett,  Daniel  Roberts,  Samuel  Stevens, 
Joseph  Wood,  Daniel  Baker,  and  other  local  patriots, 
was  earnest  in  the  support  of  the  rights  of  the  Ameri 
can  provinces  in  their  struggle  with  Great  Britain  for 
liberation  from  kingly  rule. 

In  the  spring  of  1773  William  Bartram,  the  natural- 
i 


2  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

1st,  who,  at  the  request  of  Dr.  Fothergill,  of  London, 
had  undertaken  a  visit  to  the  Floridas  "for  the  dis 
covery  of  rare  and  useful  productions  of  nature,  chiefly 
in  the  vegetable  kingdom,"  gives  us  this  glimpse  of 
the  home  of  Mr.  Andrew,  then  not  many  miles  distant 
from  Midway  Meeting  House  in  St.  John's  Parish.  "In 
evening,"  writes  Mr.  Bartram,  "I  arrived  at  the 
f  the  Hon.  B.  Andrew's,  Esq ,  who  received  and 
entertained  me  in  every  respect  as  a  worthy  gentle 
man  would  a  stranger,  that  is,  with  hearty  welcome, 
plain  but  plentiful  board,  free  conversation,  and  liber 
ality  of  sentiment.  I  spent  the  evening  very  agree 
ably,  and  the  day  following  (for  I  was  not  permitted 
to  depart  sooner)  I  viewed  with  pleasure  this  gentle 
man's  exemplary  improvements  in  agriculture,  partic 
ularly  in  the  growth  of  rice,  and  in  his  machines  for 
shelling  that  valuable  grain,  which  stands  in  the  water 
almost  from  the  time  it  is  sown  until  within  a  few  days 
before  it  is  reaped,  when  they  draw  off  the  water  by 
sluices,  which  ripens  it  all  at  once;  and  when  the  heads, 
or  panicles,  are  dry  ripe,  it  is  reaped,  and  left  standing 
in  the  field  in  small  ricks  until  the  straw  is  quite  dry, 
when  it  is  hauled  and  stacked  in  the  barnyard.  The 
machines  for  cleaning  the  rice  are  worked  by  the  force 
of  water.  They  stand  on  the  great  reservoir  which 
contains  the  waters  that  flood  the  rice-fields  below. 

"  Towards  the  evening  we  made  a  little  party  at  fish 
ing.  We  chose  a  shaded  retreat  in  a  beautiful  grove 
of  magnolias,  myrtles,  and  sweet  bay  trees,  which  were 
left  standing  on  the  bank  of  a  fine  creek,  that  from 
this  place  took  a  slow  serpentine  course  through  the 
plantation.  We  presently  took  some  fish,  one  kind  of 
which  is  very  beautiful ;  they  call  it  the  red-belly.  It 


BENJAMIN  ANDREW.  3 

is  as  large  as  a  man's  hand,  nearly  oval  and  thin,  be 
ing  compressed  on  each  side;  the  tail  is  beautifully 
formed  ;  the  top  of  the  head  and  back  of  an  olive 
green,  besprinkled  with  russet  specks ;  the  sides  of  a 
sea-green,  inclining  to  azure,  insensibly  blended  with 
the  olive  above,  and  beneath  lightens  to  a  silvery 
white  or  pearl  color,  elegantly  powdered  with  specks 
of  the  finest  green,  russet,  and  gold  ;  the  belly  is  of  a 
bright  scarlet  red,  or  vermilion,  darting  up  rays  or 
fiery  streaks  into  the  pearl  on  each  side  ;  the  ultimate 
angle  of  the  branchiostega  extends  backwards  with  a 
long  spatula,  ending  with  a  round  or  oval  particoloured 
spot  representing  the  eye  in  the  long  feathers  of  a  pea 
cock's  train,  verged  round  with  a  thin  flame-coloured 
membrane,  and  appears  like  a  brilliant  ruby  fixed  on 
the  side  of  the  fish  ;  the  eyes  are  large,  encircled  with 
a  fiery  iris ;  they  are  a  voracious  fish,  and  are  easily 
caught  with  a  suitable  bait. 

"  The  next  morning  I  took  leave  of  this  worthy 
family,  and  sat  off  for  the  settlements  on  the  Ala- 
tarn  aha,  still  pursuing  the  high  road  for  Fort  Barring- 
ton,  till  towards  noon,  when  I  turned  off  to  the  left, 
following  the  road  to  Darian,  a  settlement  on  the  river 
twenty  miles  lower  down  and  near  the  coast." 

We  offer  no  apology  for  making  this  quotation,  be 
cause  it  conveys  a  pleasant  impression  of  person  and 
place.  Of  the  first  Executive  Council  convened  upon 
the  election  of  John  Adam  Treutlen  as  governor  of 
Georgia  in  1777,  Benjamin  Andrew  was  chosen  presi 
dent,  with  Samuel  Stirk  as  clerk.  Three  years  after 
wards  Mr.  Andrew  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Con- 

1  Travels  through  North  and  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  etc.,  etc.,  by  Wil 
liam  Bartram,  pp.  11,  12.     London,  1792. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

tinental  Congress.  His  associates  were  Edward  Telfair, 
George  Walton,  Lyrnan  Hall,  and  William  Few.  Upon 
the  conclusion  of  the  war  of  the  Revolution  Mr.  An 
drew  became  an  associate  justice  for  the  county  of 
Liberty,  and  in  that  capacity  sat  for  several  terms 
with  Chief  Justice  Walton. 

One  of  his  sons  bore  arms  in  the  primal  contest 
for  freedom,  and  subsequently  removed  from  Liberty 
County  to  Washington,  Wilkes  County,  where,  on  the 
3d  of  May,  1794,  a  son  was  born  unto  him,  —  James 
Osgood  Andrew  by  name,  —  who  acquired  some  promi 
nence  as  a  Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South.  The  honorable  Benjamin  Andrew  died  in  Lib 
erty  County,  Georgia,  toward  the  close  of  the  last 
century. 


ABRAHAM    BALDWIN. 

WHEN  his  brother-in-law,  the  poet  Joel  Barlow,  in 
speaking  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  remarked  that 
"  the  annals  of  our  country  have  rarely  been  adorned 
with  a  character  more  venerable,  or  a  life  more  use 
ful  than  that  of  Abraham  Baldwin/'  he  indulged  in  no 
flattery,  but  uttered  a  well  merited  compliment.  Of 
all  the  members  from  Georgia  of  the  Continental  Con 
gress,  none  may  be  named  more  scholarly  in  his  attain 
ments,  more  conscientious  in  the  discharge  of  duty, 
more  observant  of  the  obligations  of  the  hour,  or  more 
useful  in  the  aims  and  scope  of  his  labors.  His  chosen 
way  of  life  lay  not  across  the  "  weltering  field  of  the 
tombless  dead."  On  the  contrary,  his  path  to  prefer 
ment  was  dignified  by  a  dispassionate  consideration  of 
grave  political  problems,  —  by  a  calm  ascertainment 
and  vindication  of  the  constitutional  rights  of  indi 
viduals,  states,  and  nation,  —  by  statesmanlike  presen 
tation  of  the  true  theory  of  republicanism  in  America, 
and  by  the  promulgation  and  maintenance  of  schemes 
which  aimed  at  the  promotion  of  universal  justice,  the 
sustentation  of  liberty,  the  higher  education  of  the 
masses,  and  the  elevation  and  the  happiness  of  his  fel 
low-man.  His  mission  was  exalted,  and  to  its  accom 
plishment  he  brought  a  pure  heart,  —  chastened  by 
the  influence  of  a  holy  religion,  —  a  mind  well  stored 
with  the  learning  of  the  age,  much  native  ability,  and 
tireless  industry.  Born  in  Guilford,  Connecticut,  on 


6  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

the  6th  of  November,  1754,  his  collegiate  course  was 
pursued  at  Yale  College,  whence  he  graduated  in  1772. 
From  1775  to  1779  he  held  a  tutor's  position  in  that 
institution.  During  the  last  three  years  of  this  term, 
however,  and  until  the  close  of  the  revolutionary  war 
he  served  in  the  field  in  the  capacity  of  a  chaplain. 
Upon  the  consummation  of  peace,  abandoning  the 
clerical  profession,  he  became  a  student  of  law.  It  was 
upon  the  recommendation  of  General  Nathanael  Greene 
that  Mr.  Baldwin  removed  from  Connecticut  and  ac 
quired  citizenship  in  Georgia  early  in  1784.  Shortly 
after  his  arrival  in  Savannah  he  was  there  called  to 
the  Bar.  Three  months  afterwards,  he  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  Georgia  Legislature,  where  he  origi 
nated  the  plan  of  the  University  of  Georgia,  drew  its 
charter,  secured  from  the  State  an  endowment  of  forty 
thousand  acres  of  land,  and  indicated  the  catholic  lines 
along  which  that  valuable  institution  of  learning  has 
ever  since  moved.  From  the  preamble  to  this  charter 
which,  as  a  whole,  has  evoked  encomiums  from  the 
learned  and  the  virtuous,  we  make  the  following  ex 
tract  as  illustrating  the  wisdom  and  patriotism  of  Mr. 
Baldwin :  "  As  it  is  the  distinguishing  happiness  of 
free  governments  that  civil  order  should  be  the  result 
of  choice  and  not  of  necessity,  and  the  common  wishes 
of  the  people  become  the  laws  of  the  land,  their  public 
prosperity  and  even  existence  very  much  depend 
upon  suitably  forming  the  minds  and  morals  of  their 
citizens.  When  the  minds  of  the  people  in  general  are 
viciously  disposed  and  unprincipled,  and  their  conduct 
disorderly,  a  free  government  will  be  attended  with 
greater  confusions  and  evils  more  horrid  than  the  wild, 
uncultivated  state  of  nature.  It  can  only  be  happy 


ABRAHAM   BALDWIN.  7 

when  the  public  principles  and  opinions  are  properly 
directed,  and  their  manners  regulated.  This  is  an  in 
fluence  beyond  the  reach  of  laws  and  punishments, 
and  can  be  claimed  only  by  religion  and  education. 
It  should  therefore  be  among  the  first  objects  of  those 
who  wish  well  to  the  national  prosperity  to  encourage 
and  support  the  principles  of  religion  and  morality, 
and  early  to  place  the  youth  under  the  forming  hand 
of  society,  that  by  instruction  they  may  be  moulded 
to  the  love  of  virtue  and  good  order.  Sending  them 
abroad  to  other  countries  for  their  education  will  not 
answer  these  purposes,  is  too  humiliating  an  acknow 
ledgment  of  the  ignorance  or  inferiority  of  our  own, 
and  will  always  be  the  cause  of  so  great  foreign  at 
tachments  that  upon  principles  of  policy  it  is  inad 
missible." 

The  State  of  Georgia  was  then  in  a  most  impover 
ished  condition.  The  losses  and  distractions  experi 
enced  during  the  war  just  ended  had  been  immense. 
In  the  face  of  every  retarding  circumstance  Mr.  Bald 
win  compassed  this  important  measure  ;  and  the  Uni 
versity  of  Georgia  is  to-day  a  living  monument  of  his 
wisdom,  prescience,  and  patriotism.  The  munificence 
of  the  Hon.  John  Milledge,  and  the  cooperative  aid  of 
Governor  John  Houstoun  and  the  honorables  James 
Habersharn,  William  Few,  Joseph  Clay,  William  Hous 
toun,  and  Nathan  Brownson,  were  potent  factors  in  the 
consummation  of  this  educational  scheme,  which  for  a 
century  has  proven  of  incalculable  benefit  to  the  com 
monwealth  of  Georgia.  Had  he  performed  no  public 
duty  other  than  this,  Mr.  Baldwin's  title  to  the  grati 
tude  of  succeeding  generations  would  have  been  un 
questioned. 


8  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

His  political  advancement  was  rapid.  In  1785  he 
was  elected  by  the  Legislature  to  a  seat  in  the  Conti 
nental  Congress,  and  from  that  time  until  the  day  of 
his  death  he  remained  in  the  public  service.  When 
he  died,  four  years  of  his  second  term  as  United  States 
Senator  from  Georgia  had  not  expired. 

Of  the  convention  which,  in  1787,  framed  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States,  he  was  a  very  active 
member.  It  is  stated  on  good  authority  that  some  of 
the  essential  clauses  of  that  memorable  instrument 
were  formulated  by  him. 

"  His  manner  of  conducting  business,"  says  the  au 
thor  of  the  sketch  which  appears  in  the  fourth  volume 
of  "  The  National  Portrait  Gallery  of  Distinguished 
Americans,"  "  was  worthy  of  the  highest  commenda 
tion  ;  he  may  have  wanted  ambition  to  make  himself 
brilliant,  but  he  never  wanted  industry  to  make  him 
self  useful.  His  oratory  was  simple,  forcible,  convin 
cing.  His  maxim  of  never  asserting  anything  but 
what  he  believed  to  be  true  could  not  fail  to  be  useful 
in  carrying  conviction  to  others.  Patient  of  contradic 
tion,  and  tolerant  to  the  wildest  opinions,  he  could  be 
as  indulgent  to  the  errors  of  judgment  in  other  men 
as  if  he  had  stood  the  most  in  need  of  such  indulgence 
for  himself." 

Mr.  Baldwin  was  a  Federalist.  So  manly  was  his 
course  in  Congress  and  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  so  conservative  were  his  views,  so  conscientious 
was  his  conduct  in  the  discussion  of  all  constitutional 
questions,  and  so  steadfast  his  adherence  to  what  he 
cenceived  to  be  the  cardinal  principles  of  government, 
that  he  acquired  and  retained  in  a  wonderful  degree 
the  confidence  of  the  party  to  which  he  was  attached, 


ABRAHAM   BALDWIN.  9 

the  respect  of  those  who  held  different  notions  with 
regard  to  the  political  questions  which  then  agitated 
the  country,  and  the  approbation  of  his  constituents. 
Of  him  it  has  been  truthfully  said  that  he  "  died  with 
the  consciousness  of  having  faithfully  and  fearlessly 
filled  the  measure  of  his  public  duties." 

In  private  life  he  was  correct  in  all  his  habits,  and 
given  to  benevolent  deeds.  Never  having  married,  he 
expended  his  accumulations  in  assisting  worthy  young 
men  in  acquiring  an  education  and  in  establishing 
them  in  business.  In  this  regard  his  charities  were 
akin  to  those  which  so  beautified  the  life  of  Alexander 
H.  Stephens.  Upon  the  death  of  his  father  in  1787, 
he  assumed  in  large  measure  the  payment  of  his  debts 
and  the  maintenance  and  education  of  his  six  orphan 
children.  So  far  as  the  record  stands,  the  reputation 
of  Mr.  Baldwin  for  purity  of  character,  honesty  of  pur 
pose  and  act,  fidelity  to  trust  reposed,  and  genuine 
benevolence,  is  most  admirable. 

To  Connecticut  is  Georgia  greatly  indebted  for  Ly- 
man  Hall  and  Abraham  Baldwin.  Of  their  adopted 
citizenship  she  is  justly  proud,  and  in  token  of  her 
appreciation  of  their  virtuous  lives  and  useful  services, 
she  perpetuates  their  names  by  two  of  her  counties. 

Mr.  Baldwin  died  in  harness  as  a  Senator  from 
Georgia,  and  at  the  national  capital,  on  the  4th  of 
March,  1807.  His  last  illness  was  short,  and  his  re 
mains  were  interred  by  the  side  of  his  friend  and  for 
mer  colleague  General  James  Jackson,  whom,  just  one 
year  before,  he  had  followed  to  the  tomb.  Although 
his  funeral  occurred  two  days  after  the  adjournment  of 
Congress,  many  members  remained  to  testify,  by  their 
presence,  their  personal  appreciation  of  the  great  loss 


10  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

which  had  been  sustained  by  State  and  nation.  In 
1801,  and  also  in  1802,  Mr.  Baldwin  served  as  presi 
dent  pro  tempore  of  the  Senate  ;  and  while  in  Congress 
he  voted  in  favor  of  locating  the  seat  of  government 
on  the  Potomac.1 

1  For  a  fuller  sketch  of  the  Hon.  Abraham  Baldwin,  see  volume  iv.  of 
The  National  Portrait  Gallery  of  Distinguished  Americans.  Philadelphia, 
1839. 


NATHAN  BROWNSON. 

IT  was  upon  the  invitation  of  Dr.  John  Dunwody 
that  Dr.  Brownson  became  a  resident  of  St.  John's 
Parish  in  the  Province  of  Georgia,  and  there  entered 
upon  the  practice  of  his  profession.  We  are  told  that 
he  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1761,  and  that  he 
received  his  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  from  some 
Northern  institution ;  but  we  are  not  informed  of  what 
colony  he  was  a  native.  Arriving  in  St.  John's  Parish, 
he  purchased  a  small  plantation  scarcely  two  miles  dis 
tant  from  the  present  village  of  Riceboro,  in  Liberty 
County,  where  he  builded  a  home,  and  with  a  few 
slaves  began  the  cultivation  of  rice.  His  reputation 
in  the  community  as  a  man  of  intelligence,  of  sterling 
qualities,  and  of  excellent  professional  attainments,  was 
quickly  established.  At  an  early  date  he  manifested 
a  lively  interest  in  public  affairs,  espousing  the  patriot 
cause. 

Of  the  Provincial  Congress  which  assembled  in  Sa 
vannah  on  the  4th  of  July,  1775,  he  was  a  member 
accredited  from  the  parish  of  St.  John. 

Twice  was  he  honored  by  Georgia  with  a  seat  in 
the  Continental  Congress  ;  and  on  the  16th  of  August, 
1781,  he  was  elected  governor  of  that  commonwealth. 
The  political  skies  were  then  brightening.  Augusta 
had  been  rescued  from  the  possession  of  the  enemy, 
and  renewed  efforts  were  being  made  for  the  recovery 
of  other  portions  of  the  State. 


12  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Eight  days  after  his  induction  into  office,  Governor 
Brownson,  with  the  intention  of  strengthening  the 
manhood  of  Georgia,  issued  a  proclamation  requiring 
all  persons  who  considered  themselves  citizens  of  the 
commonwealth  to  return  to  their  homes  within  speci 
fied  periods,  under  penalty  of  being  subjected  to  the 
payment  of  a  treble  tax  to  be  levied  upon  all  lands 
owned  by  them  within  the  limits  of  the  State.  Many 
wanderers  were  thus  recalled,  who,  having  forsaken 
their  plantations  in  Georgia,  had  sought  refuge  in  the 
Carolinas  and  in  Virginia.  The  salary  then  allowed 
the  governor  was  at  the  rate  of  £500  per  annum. 

On  the  6th  of  June,  1782,  he  was  appointed  Deputy 
Purveyor  for  the  Southern  Hospitals,  and  at  one  time 
during  the  war  he  served  in  the  capacity  of  surgeon 
in  the  Continental  army. 

In  the  establishment  of  the  state  university  he  took 
a  lively  interest.  He  was  named  among  the  grantees 
to  whom  Georgia  made  cession  of  forty  thousand  acres 
of  land  for  educational  purposes,  and  he  was  one  of 
the  original  trustees  appointed,  in  1785,  to  promote 
the  establishment  of  an  institution  of  learning.  He 
was  twice  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
and  in  1791  presided  over  the  State  Senate.  Of  the 
convention  which,  in  1788,  ratified  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  convention  which,  in 
1789,  amended  the  Constitution  of  Georgia,  he  was  a 
member.  He  was  also  a  commissioner  on  behalf  of 
the  State  to  superintend  the  erection  of  the  public 
buildings  at  Louisville,  in  Jefferson  County,  prepara 
tory  to  the  removal  of  the  seat  of  government  from 
Augusta  to  that  place. 

It  will   thus   be  perceived  that  Dr.  Brownson  was 


NATHAN  BROWNSON.  13 

honored  with  many  public  trusts.  In  the  discharge 
of  them  all  he  was  capable  and  most  conscientious. 
There  was  scarcely  any  time  when  his  attention  was 
not  directed  to  the  performance  of  some  important 
duty  confided  to  him  by  his  fellow-citizens. 

He  died  upon  his  plantation  in  Liberty  County,  on 
the  6th  of  November,  1796.  Among  the  purest  pa 
triots  and  most  useful  citizens  of  this  region  will  he 
always  be  numbered.  The  venerable  Major  Andrew 
May  bank,  who  was  personally  acquainted  with  Dr. 
Brownson,  related  this  anecdote  :  Mrs.  Brownson, 
while  a  good  and  faithful  wife,  was  not  always  pliable, 
or  prompt  in  responding  to  the  requests  of  her  hus 
band.  On  occasions  the  Doctor  has  been  known,  in  a 
playful  way,  to  say  to  her :  "  Have  a  care ;  if  you  do 
not  acquiesce  in  my  wish,  when  I  am  dead  I  will  come 
back  and  plague  you."  Years  after  the  Doctor's  de 
mise,  the  old  lady,  —  his  widow,  —  as  she  would  brush 
from  her  nose  some  vexatious  fly  or  annoying  insect, 
has  been  heard  to  exclaim :  "  Go  away,  Doctor  Brown- 
son  ;  "  and  as  the  persistent  fly  or  pertinacious  gnat 
would  return,  she  would,  with  emphatic  gesture  and 
in  decided  tone,  repeat  the  injunction  :  "  Go  away,  I 
tell  you,  Doctor  Brownson,  and  stop  bothering  me." 


ARCHIBALD   BULLOCH. 

OF  all  the  patriots  who  encountered  peril  and  made 
strenuous  exertion  to  deliver  Georgia  from  kingly 
dominion  and  pave  the  way  for  her  admission  into  the 
sisterhood  of  the  confederated  American  colonies,  no 
one  was  more  earnest,  self-sacrificing,  valiant,  or  influ 
ential  than  the  honorable  Archibald  Bulloch.  Of  irre 
proachable  character,  firm  in  his  convictions,  brave  of 
heart,  bold  in  action,  wise  in  counsel,  jealous  of  indi 
vidual  and  political  rights,  and  thoroughly  identified 
with  the  best  interests  of  Savannah  and  of  the  prov 
ince  of  which  it  was  both  the  capital  and  commercial 
metropolis,  at  an  early  stage  of  the  revolutionary  pro 
ceedings  he  became  an  acknowledged  leader  of  the 
rebels,  and  was  by  them  rapidly  advanced  to  the  high 
est  posts  of  danger  and  of  honor. 

Son  of  the  Reverend  James  Bulloch  of  Wilton,  Col- 
leton  Parish,  South  Carolina,  clergyman  and  planter, 
and  of  Jean  Stobo,  daughter  of  the  Reverend  Archi 
bald  Stobo,  of  South  Carolina,  Archibald  Bulloch  was 
born  in  Charles  Town,  South  Carolina,  in  1730.  Upon 
his  early  education  every  attention  was  bestowed.  He 
was  destined  for  the  legal  profession,  and  to  that  end 
his  studies  were  shaped.  Accompanying  his  father  and 
family  upon  their  removal  to  Savannah,  Georgia,  in 
1750,  from  that  time  forward  his  interests  and  sym 
pathies  became  identified  with  the  development  and 
prosperity  of  his  adopted  home.  Called  to  the  Bar 


ARCHIBALD  BULLOCH.  15 

soon  after  attaining  his  majority,  he  applied  himself 
with  zeal  and  success  to  the  practice  of  his  profession. 
He  married  Mary  De  Veaux,  a  daughter  of  James  De 
Veaux,  who,  in  1760,  was  senior  judge  under  the  admin 
istration  of  Governor  Wright.  Judge  De  Yeaux  was 
also  a  large  landowner  and  a  successful  rice  planter. 

In  1768,  Mr.  Bulloch  became  a  member  of  the  Com 
mons  House  of  Assembly,  and  was  named  on  the  com 
mittee  to  correspond  with  Dr.  Benjamin  Franklin,  who 
had  been  appointed  an  agent  to  "  represent,  solicit,  and 
transact  the  affairs  of  the  Colony  of  Georgia  in  Great 
Britain,"  and  give  him  such  instructions  as  might  ap 
pear  necessary. 

Of  the  Commons  House  of  Assembly  convened  in 
Savannah  in  1772,  Mr.  Bulloch  was  chosen  Speaker, 
pending  a  settlement  of  the  dispute  between  that  body 
and  Governor  Habersham  touching  a  recognition  of 
Dr.  Noble  Wyrnberley  Jones.  When,  upon  an  inspec 
tion  of  the  Journal,  his  Excellency  ascertained  that,  in 
disregard  of  his  second  disapproval,  the  House  had  a 
third  time  elected  Dr.  Jones  as  Speaker,  and  that  it 
was  only  in  consequence  of  his  declining  to  accept  the 
position  that  the  members  made  choice  of  Mr.  Bulloch, 
on  the  25th  of  April  he  sent  in  this  message  :  — 

"  MR.  SPEAKER  AND  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  ASSEMBLY  : 

"  I  am  extremely  sorry  to  find  by  your  Journals  that 
some  very  exceptionable  minutes  are  entered.  I  par 
ticularly  mean  your  third  choice  of  Noble  Wymberley 
Jones,  Esqr.,  as  your  Speaker,  upon  whom  I  had,  agree 
able  to  his  Majesty's  express  instructions,  twice  put  a 
negative,  and  that  your  choice  of  your  present  Speaker 
was  only  in  consequence  of  his  declining  the  chair.  If 


16  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

this  minute  is  to  stand  upon  your  Journals  I  have  no 
choice  left  but  to  proceed  to  an  immediate  dissolution. 
I  desire,  therefore,  that  you  will  come  to  a  present  and 
speedy  determination  to  recede  from  it.  If  you  do,  I 
shall,  with  the  most  unfeigned  satisfaction,  proceed  to 
business,  which  you  cannot  but  be  sensible  will  be  of 
the  highest  advantage  to  the  Province.  I  shall  expect 
your  immediate  answer  to  this  message,  that  my  con 
duct  may  be  regulated  by  it ;  and  shall  for  that  pur 
pose  remain  in  the  Council  Chamber." 

To  this  plucky  communication  the  House,  through 
its  Speaker,  promptly  responded  :  — 

"  MAY  IT  PLEASE  YOUR  HONOUR  : 

"  We,  his  Majesty's  most  dutiful  and  loyal   subjects 

—  the  Commons  of  Georgia  in  General  Assembly  met 

—  are  very  unhappy  to  find  by  your  message  to  us  of 
this   day  that  any  Minutes  entered   on  our  Journals 
should  be  construed  by  your  Honour  in  a  manner  so 
very  different  from  the  true  intent  and  design  of  this 
House.     Conscious  we  are,  Sir,  that  our  third  choice  of 
Noble  Wymberley  Jones,  Esqr.  as  our  Speaker  was  not 
in  the  least  meant  as  disrespectful  to  his  Majesty,  or  to 
you  his  representative,  nor  thereby  did  we  mean  to  in 
fringe  on  the  just  prerogative  of  the  Crown.    We  have 
seriously  reconsidered    that   particular    minute  which 
seems  to  have  given  your  Honour  so  much  offence,  and 
cannot  perceive  wherein   it  is  contrary  to   the   strict 
mode  of  Parliamentary  proceeding,  or  repugnant  to 
anything  communicated  to  us  by  your  Honour.     We 
were  hopeful  that  no  further  impediment  would  have 
arisen  to  retard  the  urgent  business  of  the  public,  and 


ARCHIBALD   BULLOCH.  17 

still  flatter  ourselves  that  we  may  be  permitted  to  do 
that  justice  to  our  constituents  which  they  have  a 
right  to  expect  from  us :  and  we  sincerely  assure  your 
Honour  that  it  is  our  hearty  wish  and  desire  to  finish 
the  business,  by  you  recommended  to  us,  with  all  har 
mony  and  dispatch.  ARCHIBALD  BULLOCH,  Speaker. 

Governor  Habersharn,  upon  the  receipt  of  this  re 
sponse,  summoned  the  House  before  him  in  the  Coun 
cil  Chamber,  and,  after  a  review  of  the  whole  affair, 
finding  that  he  could  neither  change  the  mind  of  the 
members  nor  mould  their  action  in  conformity  with 
his  wishes,  peremptorily  dissolved  the  assembly. 

Although  Governor  Habersharn's  conduct  was  ap 
proved  by  the  king,  the  effect  produced  upon  the 
colony  was  perplexing  and  deleterious.  The  treasury 
was  empty,  and  no  tax-bill  had  been  either  digested  or 
passed.  Important  statutes  were  expiring  by  their 
own  limitations,  and  no  new  laws  had  been  framed  for 
the  orderly  conduct  and  support  of  the  province.  The 
inhabitants  generally  regarded  the  dissolution  as  an 
arbitrary  exercise  of  imperial  power,  as  a  violent  sup 
pression  of  popular  preference,  as  an  unjustifiable 
interference  with  legislative  privilege.  From  across 
the  sea  there  came  no  redress  of  grievances.  At  home 
the  shadows  multiplied,  and  the  waves  of  unrest,  dis 
quietude,  and  passion  chafed  more  sullenly  then  ever 
against  the  barriers  which  the  ministry  had  erected. 

In  1773  Mr.  Bulloch  was  appointed  a  commissioner 
of  "  Public  Roads,"  and  with  all  the  patriotic  calls, 
movements,  and  assemblages  commencing  with  the 
20th  of  July,  1774,  and  leading  up  to  the  memorable 
Provincial  Congress  which  assembled  in  Savannah  on 


18  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

the  4th  of  July,  1775,  he  was  personally  and  promi 
nently  associated.  On  the  6th  of  the  previous  April 
he  had  united  with  Noble  W.  Jones  and  John  Hous- 
toun  in  a  letter  to  the  President  of  the  Continental 
Congress  explaining  the  reasons  why  they  —  nominated 
by  a  convention  composed  of  only  five  of  the  twelve 
parishes  constituting  the  Province  of  Georgia  —  could 
not  properly  claim  to  represent  the  entire  colony,  or 
conscientiously  apply  for  admission  as  delegates  from 
Georgia  to  the  General  Congress. 

Of  the  Provincial  Congress  of  the  4th  of  July,  1775, 
in  which  every  parish  was  represented  by  intelligent 
delegates,  —  fit  exponents  of  the  dominant  hopes  and 
material  interests  of  the  communities  from  which  they 
came,  —  Archibald  Bulloch  was  unanimously  chosen 
President.  By  this  Congress  Mr.  Bulloch,  John  Hous- 
toun,  the  Eev.  Dr.  Zubly,  Noble  W.  Jones,  and  Dr. 
Lyman  Hall,  were  selected  and  commissioned  as  repre 
sentatives  from  Georgia  to  the  Continental  Congress. 

Having  memorialized  the  General  Congress,  the 
governor,  the  citizens  of  Georgia,  and  the  king,  —  hav 
ing  framed  a  bill  of  rights  and  proclaimed  the  privi 
leges  for  which  they  were  resolved  to  contend,  —  hav 
ing  introduced  Georgia  into  the  fold  of  the  confeder 
ated  provinces,  —  having  enlarged  the  powers  of  the 
Council  of  Safety  and  appointed  committees  of  corre 
spondence  and  of  intelligence,  —  having  provided  the 
ways  and  means  for  future  sessions  of  Congress,  and, 
above  all,  having  demonstrated  the  inability  of  the 
king's  servants  to  control  the  province  in  the  present 
crisis,  this  assembly  — certainly  one  of  the  most  im 
portant  ever  convened  in  Georgia  —  adjourned  on  the 
17th  of  July,  subject  to  further  call  up  to  the  20th  of 
August. 


ARCHIBALD   BULLOCH.  19 

Kesponding  to  the  trust  reposed,  Messrs.  Bulloch, 
Houstoun,  and  Zably  repaired  to  Philadelphia,  and  par 
ticipated  in  the  deliberations  of  the  Continental  Con 
gress  at  an  adjourned  session  held  on  the  13th  of  Sep 
tember. 

The  Provincial  Congress  which  assembled  in  Savan 
nah  on  the  20th  of  January,  1776,  perfected  its  organi 
zation  two  days  afterwards  by  the  election  of  the  hon 
orable  Archibald  Bulloch  as  president.  On  the  2d  of 
February,  he,  John  Houstoun,  Lyman  Hall,  Button 
Gwinnett,  and  George  Walton,  were  appointed  dele 
gates  to  the  Continental  Congress.  Under  the  tem 
porary  constitution  then  adopted  and  promulgated, 
Mr.  Bulloch  was  chosen  "President  and  Cornmander- 
in  chief  of  Georgia,"  with  John  Glen  as  Chief  Justice, 
William  Stephens  as  Attorney-General,  and  James 
Jackson  as  Clerk  of  Court. 

On  the  first  of  May,  1776,  the  Council  of  Safety 
thus  saluted  the  first  Republican  President  of  Georgia: 

"MAY    IT    PLEASE    YOUR    EXCELLENCY: 

"  The  long  session  of  the  late  Congress,  together 
with  the  season  of  the  year,  called  particularly  for  a 
speedy  recess :  and  the  House  having  adjourned  while 
you  were  out  of  town,  it  becomes  more  particularly 
necessary  for  us  to  addess  your  Excellency.  All,  there 
fore,  with  unfeigned  confidence  and  regard,  beg  leave 
to  congratulate  not  only  your  Excellency  on  your 
appointment  to,  but  your  country  on  your  acceptance 
of,  the  supreme  command  in  this  Province. 

"  It  would  be  needless  and  tedious  to  recount  the  vari 
ous  and  yet  multiplying  oppressions  which  have  driven 
the  people  of  this  Province  to  erect  that  government 


20  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

which  they  have  called  upon  you  to  see  executed. 
Suffice  it  thus  to  declare  that  it  was  only  an  alterna 
tive  of  anarchy  and  misery,  and,  by  consequence,  the 
effect  of  dire  necessity.  Your  Excellency  will  know 
that  it  was  the  endeavor  of  the  Congress  to  stop  every 
avenue  of  vice  and  oppression,  lest  the  infant  virtue  of 
a  still  more  infant  Province  might,  in  time,  rankle  into 
corruption ;  and  we  doubt  not  that  by  your  Excel 
lency's  exertions  all  the  resolutions  made  or  adopted 
by  Congress  will  be  enforced  with  firmness  without 
any  regard  to  any  individual  or  any  set  of  men  ;  for 
no  government  can  be  said  to  be  established  while  any 
part  of  the  community  refuses  submission  to  its  au 
thority.  In  the  discharge  of  this  arduous  and  impor 
tant  task  your  Excellency  may  rely  on  our  constant 
and  best  endeavors  to  assist  and  support  you." 

To  this  address  President  Bulloch  returned  the  fol 
lowing  response  :  — 

"  HONORABLE  GENTLEMEN  : 

"  I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  kind  expres 
sions  of  congratulation  on  my  appointment  to  the  su 
preme  command  of  this  Colonj^.  When  I  reflect  from 
whence  the  appointment  is  derived,  —  that  of  the  free 
and  uncorrupt  suffrages  of  my  fellow-citizens,  —  it  can 
not  fail  to  stimulate  me  to  the  most  vigorous  exertions 
in  the  discharge  of  the  important  duties  to  which  I  am 
called  by  our  Provincial  Congress.  While  I  have  the 
advice  and  assistance  of  gentlemen  of  known  integrity 
and  abilities,  I  doubt  not  but  that  I  shall  be  enabled  to 
enforce  and  carry  into  execution  every  resolve  and 
law  of  Congress.  And,  as  far  as  lies  with  me,  my 


ARCHIBALD   BULLOCH.  21 

country  may  depend  I  will,  with  a  becoming  firmness 
and  the  greatest  impartiality,  always  endeavor  to  cause 
justice  in  mercy  to  be  executed." 

This  confidence  was  well  bestowed.  To  none  more 
capable  could  this  high  trust  have  been  confided. 
President  Bulloch  was  a  tower  of  strength.  His  per 
sonal  and  official  integrity,  his  exalted  conception  of 
honor,  his  patriotism,  his  admirable  executive  abilities, 
his  honesty  of  thought  and  purpose,  his  sturdy  man 
hood,  his  unquestioned  courage,  and  his  enlarged  views 
of  the  public  good,  were  invaluable  in  shaping  the  con 
duct,  confirming  the  existence,  and  maintaining  the 
dignity  of  the  infant  commonwealth. 

Complying  with  a  custom  which  had  obtained  dur 
ing  the  terms  of  service  of  the  royal  governors,  Colo 
nel  Mclntosh,  —  commanding  the  provincial  troops  in 
Savannah,  —  upon  the  election  of  President  Bulloch, 
caused  a  sentinel  to  be  posted  at  the  door  of  his  resi 
dence.  To  this  his  Excellency  objected,  with  the  re 
mark  :  "  I  act  for  a  free  people  in  whom  I  have  the 
most  entire  confidence,  and  I  wish  to  avoid  on  all  occa 
sions  the  appearance  of  ostentation."  Just  prior  to 
entering  upon  his  duties  as  President  and  commander- 
in- chief  of  Georgia,  and  when  Maitland  and  Grant  had 
retired  after  their  unsuccessful  effort  to  capture  the 
rice-laden  vessels  lying  in  the  river  opposite  the  town 
of  Savannah,  Mr.  Bulloch  compassed  the  following 
dangerous  feat :  Governor  Wright,  the  officers  of  the 
fleet  lying  in  the  mouth  of  the  Savannah  River,  and 
the  British  soldiers  were  in  the  habit  of  going  ashore 
on  Tybee  Island  and  utilizing  for  their  comfort  and 
enjoyment  the  houses  there  situated.  This  the  Coun- 


22  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

cil   of  Safety  determined  to  prevent  in  future  by  de 
stroying  those  edifices.     Accordingly  a  boat  expedition 

—  consisting  of  riflemen,  light  infantry,  volunteers,  and 
a  few  Creek  Indians,  led  by  Mr.  Bulloch  —  on  the  25th 
of  March  made  a  descent  upon  that  island,  and  burned 
every  house  except  one  in  which  a  sick  woman  and 
several  children  were  lying.     Two  marines   from  the 
fleet  and  a  Tory  were  killed,  and  one  marine  and  sev 
eral  Tories  were  captured.     Although  the    Cherokee, 
man-of-war,  and  an  armed  sloop  kept  up  an  incessant 
fire,  the  party  —  consisting  of  about  one  hundred  men 

—  sustained  no  loss,  and  returned  in  safety  to  Savan 
nah,  having  fully  accomplished  the  prescribed  mission. 

So  tardy  were  the  means  of  communication  when 
the  electric  telegraph  and  conveyance  by  steam  were 
unknown,  that  the  Declaration  of  Independence  — 
sanctioned  in  Philadelphia  on  the  4th  of  July,  1776 

—  was  not  heard  of  in  Georgia  until  the  10th  of  Au 
gust.     On  that  day  an  express  messenger  arrived,  and 
delivered  to  President  Bulloch  a  copy  of  that  memo 
rable  document,  accompanied   by  a  letter  from  John 
Hancock,  president  of  the  Continental  Congress.     The 
Provincial  Council  was  at  once  assembled,  and  in  its 
hearing  President  Bulloch  read  aloud  that  historic  ut 
terance  of  the  delegates  of  the  thirteen  united  colonies. 
Profound  was  the  impression  created,  and  rapturously 
did  the  assembled  councilors  hail  the  elevation  of  Brit 
ish  colonies  into  the  dignity  of  free  and  independent 
states. 

This  ceremony  concluded,  the  President  and  Mem 
bers  of  Council  repaired  to  the  public  square,  where, 
in  front  of  the  building  set  apart  for  the  deliberations 
of  the  Provincial  Assembly,  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 


ARCHIBALD  BULLOCH.  23 

pendence  was  again  read,  and  this  time  amid  the  ac 
clamations  of  the  congregated  citizens  of  Savannah. 
The  grenadier  and  light  infantry  companies  then  fired 
a  general  salute,  and  the  following  procession  was 
formed :  — 

"  The  Grenadiers  in  front ; 

The  Provost  Marshal  on  horseback,  with  his  sword  drawn  ; 
The  Secretary,  bearing  the  Declaration  ; 

His  Excellency  the  President ; 
The  honorable  the  Council,  and  gentlemen  attending ; 

The  Light  Infantry; 

The  Militia  of  the  Town  and  District  of  Savannah  ; 
And  lastly,  the  Citizens." 

In  this  order  all  marched  to  the  Liberty  Pole,  where 
they  were  met  by  the  Georgia  Battalion.  Here  the 
Declaration  was  read  for  the  third  time.  At  the  com 
mand  of  Colonel  Lachlan  Mclntosh,  thirteen  volleys 
were  fired  from  the  field-pieces,  and  also  from  the 
small  arms.  Thence  the  entire  concourse  proceeded 
to  the  battery  at  the  Trustees  Garden,  where  the  De 
claration  was  publicly  read  for  the  fourth  and  last 
time,  and  a  salute  was  fired  from  the  siege  guns  posted 
at  that  point. 

His  Excellency,  the  Members  of  Council,  Colonel 
Mclntosh,  many  gentlemen,  and  the  militia  dined  un 
der  the  cedar  trees,  and  cordially  drank  to  the  "  pros 
perity  and  perpetuity  of  the  United,  Free,  and  Inde 
pendent  States  of  America." 

In  the  evening  the  town  was  illuminated.  A  funeral 
procession,  —  embracing  a  number  of  citizens  larger 
than  had  ever  been  congregated  in  the  history  of  Sa 
vannah,  attended  by  the  grenadier  and  light  infantry 
companies,  the  Georgia  battalion,  and  the  militia,  — 


24  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

with  rmiffled  drums,  marched  to  the  front  of  the  court 
house,  where  his  Majesty  George  the  Third  was  in 
terred  in  effigy,  and  the  following  burial  service,  pre 
pared  for  the  occasion,  was  read  with  all  solemnity  :  — 

u  For  as  much  as  George  the  Third,  of  Great  Britain, 
hath  most  flagrantly  violated  his  Coronation  Oath,  and 
trampled  upon  the  Constitution  of  our  country  and 
the  sacred  rights  of  mankind :  we,  therefore,  commit 
his  political  existence  to  the  ground  —  corruption  to 
corruption  —  tyranny  to  the  grave  —  and  oppression 
to  eternal  infamy;  in  sure  and  certain  hope  that  he 
will  never  obtain  a  resurrection  to  rule  again  over 
these  United  States  of  America.  But,  rny  friends  and 
fellow-citizens,  let  us  not  be  sorry,  as  men  without 
hope,  for  TYRANTS  that  thus  depart  —  rather  let  us  re 
member  America  is  free  and  independent ;  that  she  is 
and  will  be,  with  the  blessing  of  the  Almighty,  GREAT 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth.  Let  this  encourage 
us  in  well  doing,  to  fight  for  our  rights  and  privileges, 
for  our  wives  and  children,  and  for  all  that  is  near  and 
dear  unto  us.  May  God  give  us  his  blessing,  and  let 
all  the  people  say,  AMEN." 

With  similar  joy  was  the  publication  of  the  Declara 
tion  welcomed  in  other  parishes. 

Now  that  Georgia  had  been  formally  recognized  as 
a  State,  and  as  it  had  been  recommended  by  the  Colo 
nial  Congress  that  governments  should  be  provided  in 
the  several  commonwealths  adapted  to  the  exigencies 
of  the  new  order  of  affairs,  and  conducive  to  the  hap 
piness  and  safety  alike  of  the  respective  States  and  of 
the  Confederated  Union,  President  Bulloch  issued  his 
proclamation  ordering  a  general  election  to  be  held 
between  the  1st  and  the  10th  of  September,  for  the 


ARCHIBALD   BULLOCH.  25 

purpose  of  selecting  representatives  to  meet  in  con 
vention  in  Savannah  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  October. 
He  also  directed  that  a  circular  letter  should  be  ad 
dressed  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  parishes  and  districts 
of  Georgia,  congratulating  them  upon  the  happy  po 
litical  outlook,  reminding  them  of  the  important  busi 
ness  to  be  transacted  by  the  convention,  and  impress 
ing  upon  them  the  necessity  for  selecting  delegates  of 
approved  patriotism  and  of  the  highest  character,  — 
men  whose  friendship  to  the  cause  of  freedom  had 
been  thoroughly  proven,  and  whose  political  wisdom 
qualified  them  to  frame  the  best  constitution  for  the 
future  guidance  of  the  commonwealth. 

Another  proclamation  was  issued  for  the  encourage 
ment  of  the  recruiting  service  within  the  limits  of 
Georgia.  It  was  based  upon  a  resolution  of  the  Pro 
vincial  Congress  which  provided  that  every  one  enter 
ing  the  army,  who  should  serve  faithfully  for  a  period 
of  three  years  or  until  peace  was  concluded  with  Great 
Britain,  should  be  entitled  to  a  bounty  of  one  hundred 
acres  of  land.  It  was  further  stipulated  that  if  he 
should  perish  in  defense  of  his  State,  his  widow  or 
family  would  be  complimented  with  the  land. 

President  Bulloch  was  careful  in  explaining  to  the 
Indian  nations  dwelling  upon  the  borders  of  Georgia 
the  nature  of  the  dispute  between  the  united  colonies 
and  England,  and  in  exhorting  them  to  maintain  a 
friendly  correspondence. 

It  was  during  his  administration  that  General  Charles 
Lee  launched  his  futile  expedition  against  East  Florida. 

Responding  to  the  proclamation  and  the  circular  let 
ter  of  President  Bulloch,  the  delegates  selected  by  the 
various  parishes  assembled  in  Savannah  on  the  first 


26  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

Tuesday  in  October,  1776.  They  were  men  of  repute 
at  home.  They  had  been  carefully  chosen  and  were 
not  insensible  to  the  weighty  obligations  resting  upon 
them.  So  numerous  were  the  subjects  claiming  the 
attention  of  this  convention,  and  so  exhaustive  were 
its  deliberations,  that  it  was  not  until  the  5th  of  the 
following  February  that  satisfactory  conclusions  were 
reached,  and  that  the  Constitution  was  promulgated 
which  for  twelve  years  defined  and  supported  the 
rights  of  Georgia  as  an  independent  State.  In  shap 
ing  its  provisions,  the  wisdom  and  patriotism,  the  aid 
and  counsel  of  the  Executive  were  frequently  invoked. 

Scarcely  had  this  instrument  been  published  when 
an  alarm  was  again  sounded  along  the  southern  fron 
tier  of  Georgia,  and  the  arms-bearing  population  was 
summoned  to  the  field.  It  being  found  impossible  at 
all  times  to  convene  the  Council  of  Safety  with  a 
promptitude  requisite  for  the  dispatch  of  urgent  busi 
ness,  President  Bulloch  was,  by  resolution  of  that  body 
adopted  on  the  22d  of  February,  requested  "  to  take 
upon  himself  the  whole  executive  powers  of  govern 
ment,  calling  to  his  assistance  not  less  than  five  per 
sons  of  his  own  choosing  to  consult  and  advise  with 
him  on  every  occasion  when  a  sufficient  number  of 
councillors  could  not  be  convened  to  make  a  board." 

Unusual  as  was  this  delegation  of  power,  it  excited 
neither  jealousy  nor  unfavorable  comment.  The  times 
were  hazardous,  delays  dangerous,  and  decision  and 
quick  action  were  imperatively  demanded.  The  pru 
dence,  wisdom,  courage,  and  patriotism  of  Mr.  Bulloch 
were  conspicuous.  In  him  did  the  people  trust  with  a 
confidence  and  a  devotion  rarely  exhibited. 

But  a  little  while,  however,  did  he  survive  to  exer- 


ARCHIBALD  BULLOCH.  27 

cise  these  extensive  powers.  Before  the  month  of  Feb 
ruary  was  ended  he  died1  suddenly  at  his  home  in 
Savannah,  and  the  State  was  filled  with  mourning. 
He  fell  in  full  armor,  his  thoughts  intent  upon  duty? 
his  arm  nerved  for  the  loftiest  endeavor.  No  one  of 
his  generation  was  more  influential  in  shaping  the  po 
litical  destinies  of  Georgia,  or  more  potent  in  compass 
ing  the  liberation  of  that  colony  from  the  dominion 
of  the  Crown.  His  good  name  and  patriotic  efforts 
are  indissolubly  associated  with  the  proudest  triumphs 
of  the  period.  In  slight  acknowledgment  of  his  ser 
vices  in  the  cause  of  freedom  and  in  maintenance  of 
the  rights  of  man,  a  county  has  been  named  in  his 
honor,  and  he  is  gratefully  remembered  as  the  first 
Eepublican  President  of  the  commonwealth. 

1  His  will  was  executed  on  the  llth  of  February,  1775,  and  was  pro 
bated  on  the  1st  of  March,  1786.  It  remains  of  record  in  the  office  of  the 
Ordinary  of  Chatham  County. 


JOSEPH  CLAY. 

EALPH  CLAY  —  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
—  married  Elizabeth,  a  sister  of  the  honorable  James 
Habersham,  intimate  friend  of  the  reverend  George 
Whitefield,  and,  during  the  absence  of  Sir  James  Wright 
in  1771-72,  the  royal  governor  of  Georgia.  Joseph 
Clay,  the  only  son  of  this  marriage,  was  born  at  Bever- 
ley,  Yorkshire,  England,  on  the  16th  of  October,  1741. 
At  the  suggestion  of  his  distinguished  uncle,  supple 
mented  by  the  persuasions  of  the  Keverend  Mr.  White- 
field,  young  Clay  came  to  Georgia  in  1760.  A  few  years 
afterwards,  responding  to  the  wish  of  Governor  Haber- 
sham,  who  furnished  the  means  requisite  for  the  adven 
ture,  his  son  James  Habersham  junior  and  his  nephew 
Joseph  Clay  associated  themselves  in  a  general  com 
mission  business  in  Savannah.  The  partnership  thus 
formed  lasted  about  five  years.  With  the  exception 
of  the  period  covered  by  the  war  of  the  Revolution 
Mr.  Clay  remained  actively  engaged  in  commercial 
pursuits.  He  and  Colonel  Joseph  Habersham  were  at 
one  time  associated  under  the  firm  name  of  Joseph 
Clay  &  Company.  He  was  also  a  partner  in  the  house 
of  Seth  John  Cuthbert  &  Company  ;  at  another  time 
he  was  the  senior  member  of  the  firm  of  Clay,  Telfair 
&  Company,  and  again  was  interested  as  a  copartner 
in  the  house  of  William  Fox  &  Company  of  Newport, 
Rhode  Island.  His  home  was  always  in  Savannah, 
where,  on  the  2d  of  January,  1763,  he  married  Ann 


JOSEPH   CLAY.  29 

Legardere.  Soon  after  establishing  himself  in  busi 
ness  in  Savannah,  Mr.  Clay  became  interested,  in  con 
nection  with  his  relatives,  the  Habershams,  in  the 
cultivation  of  rice,  which  was  then  the  principal  mar 
ket  crop  produced  upon  the  marish  lands  of  Southern 
Georgia.  Both  as  a  merchant  and  as  a  planter  he 
prospered.  In  conducting  his  business  affairs  he  was 
prompt,  energetic,  and  competent. 

By  the  meeting  of  patriotic  citizens  assembled  at 
the  Liberty  Pole  at  Tondee's  Tavern  in  Savannah  on 
the  27th  of  July,  1774,  he  was  chosen  a  member  of  the 
committee  then  raised  and  charged  with  the  prepara 
tion  of  resolutions  expressive  of  the  rebel  sentiments 
of  the  community,  and  of  the  determination  of 
Georgia,  at  an  early  day,  to  associate  herself  with  her 
sister  American  colonies  in  opposition  to  the  enforce 
ment  of  the  unjustifiable  and  arbitrary  acts  of  the 
British  Parliament. 

On  the  10th  of  the  following  August  he  appeared 
with  this  committee  and  united  in  submitting  a  report 
which,  unanimously  adopted,  proclaimed  in  brave  lan 
guage  the  rights  claimed  by  the  protesting  provinces, 
condemned  in  emphatic  terms  the  policy  inaugurated 
by  England,  and  promised  cooperation  on  the  part  of 
Georgia  in  all  constitutional  measures  devised  to  ob 
tain  a  redress  of  existing  grievances  and  to  maintain 
the  inestimable  blessings  granted  by  God  and  guaran 
teed  by  a  constitution  founded  upon  reason  and  justice. 
He  was  also  of  the  committee  then  appointed  to  solicit 
and  forward  supplies  for  the  relief  of  the  suffering  poor 
of  Boston.  In  the  rape  of  six  hundred  pounds  of 
powder  from  the  king's  magazine  in  Savannah  during 
the  night  of  the  llth  of  May,  1775,  and  in  its  subse- 


30  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

quent  distribution  among  parties  intent  upon  rebellion, 
Mr.  Clay  personally  participated.  By  the  assembly 
convened  on  the  22d  of  June  in  the  same  year  he 
was  complimented  with  a  place  in  the  Council  of 
Safety.  To  the  famous  Provincial  Congress  which  met 
in  Savannah  twelve  days  afterwards,  he  was  a  delegate 
accredited  from  the  town  and  district  of  Savannah. 
By  that  Congress  he  was  placed  upon  a  committee  to 
frame  an  address  to  his  Excellency  Governor  Wright. 
He  was  also  designated  as  a  member  of  the  important 
"  Committee  of  Intelligence,"  and  commissioned  as 
one  of  another  committee  to  present  the  "  Article  of 
Association,"  then  adopted,  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
town  and  district  of  Savannah  for  signature. 

Deeming  it  essential  to  the  success  of  the  liberty 
cause  that  no  officer  of  the  militia  should  be  retained 
in  commission  who  refused  or  neglected  to  sign  this 
"  Article  of  Association,"  and  yet  exhibiting  a  show  of 
respect  for  Sir  James  Wright,  the  royal  governor, 
George  Walton,  William  Le  Conte,  Francis  Harris, 
William  Young,  George  Houstoun,  William  Ewen, 
John  Glen,  Samuel  Elbert,  Basil  Cowper,  and  Joseph 
Clay,  acting  in  behalf  of  the  Council  of  Safety,  on  the 
8th  of  August,  1775,  addressed  a  communication  to  his 
Excellency  the  governor,  asking  permission  that  the 
several  militia  companies  of  the  province  should  be 
permitted  to  elect  their  own  officers.  It  was  sug 
gested  that  some  of  them  were  distasteful  to  those 
whom  they  were  appointed  to  command.  Deeming  it 
an  extraordinary  application,  dangerous  in  its  ten 
dency  and  calculated  to  wrest  the  control  of  the  mili 
tary  from  the  crown  officers,  Sir  James  sought  the 
advice  of  his  Council.  An  answer  was  returned :  "  that 


JOSEPH   CLAY.  31 

for  many  very  substantial  reasons  the  governor  would 
not  comply  with  the  request."  Nothing  daunted,  the 
members  of  the  Council  of  Safety,  who  really  cared 
but  little  for  the  mind  of  the  governor  on  the  subject, 
took  the  matter  in  their  own  hands,  and  proceeded  to 
purge  the  militia  of  any  loyal  element  which  lurked 
in  the  ranks  of  its  commissioned  officers.  The  revo 
lutionists  were  in  earnest.  With  rapid  strides  they 
marched  forward,  overcoming  in  succession  every  ob 
stacle  which  retarded  their  progress  towards  the  con 
summation  of  the  complete  overthrow  of  kingly 
dominion  in  Georgia.  In.  this  rebel  procession  Joseph 
Clay  was  an  active  and  efficient  lieutenant. 

When,  early  in  March,  1776,  Barclay  and  Grant 
threatened  Savannah,  the  Council  of  Safety  resolved 
to  defend  that  town  and  the  rice-laden  vessels  lying  at 
its  wharves,  to  the  last  extremity.  Mr.  Clay  was  then 
named  as  chairman  of  a  committee  to  inventory  and 
value  the  shipping  in  port,  and  all  houses  in  Savannah 
and  its  hamlets  belonging  to  the  friends  of  America 
who  were  prepared  to  participate  in  the  common  de 
fense.  In  that  inventory  and  appraisement  were  to 
be  included  the  homes  and  property  of  widows  and 
orphans.  So  firm  was  the  resolution  of  the  'patriots, 
that  they  were  determined  to  commit  everything  to 
the  flames  rather  than  have  their  town  and  shipping 
pass  into  the  hands  of  British  soldiers. 

The  inventory  and  appraisement  were  made  with  a 
view  to  future  indemnification  at  the  hands  of  the  gen 
eral  government.  Fortunately  the  contemplated  sacri 
fice  was  not  demanded  at  the  hands  of  these  gallant 
defenders. 

On  the  6th  of  August,  1777,  Mr.  Clay  was  recog- 


32  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

nized  by  the  Continental  Congress  as  Deputy  Pay 
master-General  in  Georgia,  with  the  rank  of  colonel. 
This  position  was  subsequently  enlarged  so  as  to  em 
brace  the  Southern  Department.  When  General 
Greene  assumed  command  of  this  department,  Colonel 
Clay  was  brought  into  personal  association  with  him, 
and  secured  his  confidence  and  esteem.  Large  sums 
of  money  were  disbursed  by  him  in  the  execution  of 
his  office,  and  there  remains  no  suggestion  of  default 
or  misappropriation.  During  the  years  1778,  1779, 
and  1780  Georgia  named  him  as  one  of  her  delegates 
to  the  Continental  Congress. 

By  the  first  general  assembly  which  convened  in 
Savannah  after  its  evacuation  by  General  Alured 
Clarke  and  the  king's  forces  in  July,  1782,  Colonel 
Clay  was  elected  Treasurer  of  the  State  of  Georgia, 
and  his  salary  was  fixed  at  £300  per  annum. 

In  1785  he  was  named  as  one  of  the  trustees  for 
establishing  the  college  or  seminary  of  learning  which 
subsequently  developed  into  the  present  University  of 
Georgia;  and  during  the  following  year  he  became 
one  of  the  justices  of  Chatham  County.  In  May,  1791, 
he  was  a  member  of  the  committee  which  welcomed 
President  Washington  on  the  occasion  of  his  visit  to 
Savannah.  He  died  in  that  city  on  the  15th  of  No 
vember,  1804.1 

His  son  Joseph  was  a  prominent  lawyer,  and  for 
several  years  occupied  the  bench  as  United  States 
Judge  for  the  District  of  Georgia.  Resigning  this 

1  Appleton's  Cyclopaedia  of  American  Biography  fixes  the  date  of 
Colonel  Clay's  death  as  the  16th  of  January,  1805.  The  true  date,  as 
taken  from  the  family  records,  is  that  which  we  have  given  above. 


JOSEPH  CLAY.  33 

position  he  entered  the  sacred  ministry,  and  was  re 
garded  as  one  of  the  most  eloquent  pulpit  orators  of 
his  day.  In  later  generations  the  descendants  of 
Colonel  Clay  have  been  noted  in  the  church,  at  the 
Bar,  in  the  domain  of  politics,  and  in  social  life. 


WILLIAM  FEW. 

UNASSISTED  by  family  or  fortune,  yet  sustained  by 
natural  capabilities,  a  strong  character,  a  determined 
will,  and  a  laudable  ambition,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
triumphing  over  the  lack  of  early  education  and  the 
retarding  influences  of  the  res  angmta  domi,  bore  a 
prominent  part  alike  in  the  Revolutionary  annals  of 
Georgia,  and  in  those  acts  and  deliberations  which  cul 
minated  in  the  establishment  of  this  general  govern 
ment.  Brave  of  heart,  firm  in  purpose,  full  of  patri 
otic  impulse,  bred  in  the  school  of  the  self-reliant 
pioneer,  possessing  an  admirable  knowledge  of  men 
and  events,  and  exhibiting  on  all  occasions  a  sound 
and  comprehensive  judgment,  his  counsel  and  aid  were 
invaluable  during  the  trying  epoch  when  the  govern 
ment  of  an  infant  State,  changing  its  seat  as  the  tide 
of  revolution  ebbed  and  flowed  in  the  presence  or  ab 
sence  of  the  king's  soldiers,  stood  in  sore  need  of  the 
substantial  encouragement  of  those  accustomed  to  deal 
with  emergencies  and  difficulties,  and  who  were  loyal 
to  the  cause  of  independence.  Material  was  the  assist 
ance  rendered  by  Colonel  Few,  not  only  in  the  shock 
of  arms  wherein  he  took  rank  with  Twiggs,  Clarke, 
Dooly,  Elbert,  Walton,  and  Baker,  keeping  the  flame 
of  resistance  alive  when  the  territory  of  Georgia  was 
well-nigh  overrun  by  British  regulars,  Tories,  and  sub 
sidized  Indians,  but  also  in  devising  means  for  sustain 
ing  the  Revolutionists  when  they  sadly  needed  arms, 


WILLIAM  FEW.  35 

clothing,  food,  organization,  munitions,  and  all  sorts  of 
equipments.  Potent  was  his  voice  in  the  discussions 
which  eventuated  in  framing  a  constitution  and  in  the 
enactment  of  laws  suitable  for  th«.  governance  of  a 
new  State  just  emerged  from  kingly  rule. 

As  a  Eepresentative  from  Georgia  in  the  Conti 
nental  Congress,  his  course  in  the  national  councils 
was  marked  by  integrity,  fidelity,  and  ability.  The 
reputation  acquired  at  home  was  here  broadened  and 
heightened  until  it  became  national  in  its  scope.  As  a 
Judge,  his  conduct  was  at  all  times  impartial  and  dig- 
nified,  and  his  administration  of  the  law,  just,  capable, 
and  inflexible.  More  than  once  was  he  called  upon  to 
aid  in  settling  the  boundary  lines  of  Georgia,  and  in 
the  pacification  of  the  Indian  tribes  cormorant  near 
her  borders.  As  one  of  the  original  trustees  of  the 
state  university,  his  services  in  devising  a  scheme  for 
the  liberal  education  of  the  youths  of  the  land  are 
well  remembered.  His  labors  in  the  convention  for 
revising  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  and  his  exer 
tions  in  behalf  of  Georgia  and  her  sister  colonies  in 
their  contest  for  an  independent  national  existence, 
were  rewarded  by  a  seat  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States.  Thus,  as  a  partisan  officer,  as  a  member  of  the 
Executive  Council  of  Georgia,  as  a  State  Legislator,  as 
a  Judge,  a  Trustee,  a  Commissioner,  a  Member  of  Con 
gress,  and  as  a  United  States  Senator,  he  was  compli 
mented  with  nearly  every  prominent  office  within  the 
gift  of  his  adopted  State.  At  all  times  and  in  every 
place  did  he  endear  himself  to  his  people ;  and  the 
value  of  his  patriotic  and  public  services  was  thor 
oughly  recognized.  Faithful  and  energetic  in  the  hour 
of  doubt  and  peril,  he  lived  to  behold  the  full  triumph 


36  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

of  the  republic,  and  to  share  liberally  in  the  general 
honors. 

Upon  his  removal  to  New  York  in  1799,  his  services 
were  speedily  invoked  in  the  interest  of  the  good  order 
of  the  community,  and  the  remainder  of  his  life  was 
there  spent  in  usefulness,  in  the  efficient  administra 
tion  of  various  noted  charities,  in  the  discharge  of 
duties  appertaining  to  offices  of  trust  and  honor  within 
the  gift  of  the  city,  and  in  the  proper  guidance  of  the 
affairs  of  one  of  its  most  respectable  financial  institu 
tions. 

A  descendant  of  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Penn 
sylvania,  Colonel  William  Few  was  born  in  Baltimore 
County,  Maryland,  on  the  8th  of  June,  1748.  Remov 
ing  with  his  parents  to  North  Carolina  when  just  ten 
years  of  age,  his  boyhood  and  early  manhood  were 
spent  in  a  region  where  privation  and  severe  labor 
were  the  heritage  of  the  many,  where  opportunities 
for  acquiring  even  the  rudiments  of  an  education  were 
very  limited,  and  where  the  battle  with  nature  for  sub 
sistence  and  reasonable  comfort  was  incessant  and  all- 
absorbing.  Even  under  such  disadvantageous  circum 
stances,  the  longings  of  his  active  mind  for  culture  and 
knowledge  were  extraordinary,  and  the  progress  made 
in  intellectual  improvement  was  quite  astonishing. 
The  narrative  which  he  has  left  of  his  early  struggles 
unfolds  a  bright  example  worthy  the  emulation  of  in 
genuous  youth  of  the  succeeding  generations  whose 
lots  may  be  cast  in  rough  places.  He  carne  to  reside 
in  Georgia  in  the  autumn  of  1776.  Just  twenty-eight 
years  of  age,  full  of  vigor  and  enthusiasm,  and  ac 
customed  to  deal  with  men,  he  was  there  accorded 
a  hearty  welcome.  Those  were  stirring  times,  and 


WILLIAM  FEW.  37 

almost  immediately  upon  his  arrival  he  threw  himself 
with  patriotic  ardor  into  the  midst  of  them,  taking  an 
active  interest  in  public  affairs,  which  he  maintained 
during  his  residence  of  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century 
in  that  State. 

His  life  was  characterized  by  probity,  decision,  inde 
pendence,  strength,  courage,  and  devotion  to  country 
and  duty.  Ardent  in  temperament,  yet  deliberate  in 
forming  his  opinions,  he  adhered  with  a  tenacity 
worthy  of  admiration  to  all  projects  promotive  of  good 
morals  and  the  general  welfare.  Toward  those  enter 
taining  opposite  political  views  he  was  tolerant  and 
courteous.  Candor  in  thought,  word,  and  act  was  one 
of  his  distinguishing  traits.  As  a  partisan  officer  he 
was  enterprising,  intrepid,  and  patient  of  every  fatigue 
and  privation.  The  success  of  the  Republic  he  held 
superior  to  every  other  consideration,  and  to  the  cause 
of  the  Revolutionists  he  gave,  on  every  occasion,  his 
unswerving  allegiance.  In  the  domestic  circle  he  was 
affectionate,  true,  and  confiding.  A  staunch  believer 
in  the  truths  of  revealed  religion,  he  governed  his  life 
in  obedience  to  the  established  tenets  of  the  Church 
of  Christ.  During  his  declining  years  he  was  much 
given  to  meditation  and  repose.  Having  acquired  an 
ample  fortune,  it  was  his  pleasure  to  disburse  all  sur 
plus  income  in  support  of  such  charities  as  com 
mended  themselves  to  his  philanthropic  heart.  In 
person,  Colonel  Few  was  tall,  erect,  slender,  and  well- 
proportioned.  His  regular  and  finely  poised  head  was 
indicative  of  resolution,  intellect,  and  character.  His 
countenance  was  agreeable,  and  his  eyes  were  full  of 
expression.  In  his  manners  he  was  grave  and  digni 
fied,  and  his  deportment  was  such  as  to  inspire  confi- 


38  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

dence  and  respect.  He  died  at  the  residence  of  Mr. 
Albert  Chrystie,  his  son-in-law,  at  Fishkill-on-Hudson, 
on  the  16th  of  July,  1828,  full  of  years  and  of  honors.1 

1  The  following  is  a  summary  of  the  more  prominent  positions  filled  by 
Mr.  Few  during  his  long,  busy,  and  useful  life  :  — 

1777.     Member  from  Richmond  County  of  the  Georgia  Legislature. 

1777.  Member  of  the  Executive  Council. 

1778.  Engaged  in  the  Expedition  conducted  by  General  Robert  Howe 
and  Governor  John  Houstoun  for  the  subjugation  of  East  Florida. 

1778.     Elected  Surveyor-General  of  Georgia. 

1778.  Appointed  Commissioner  of  Confiscated  Estates,  and  Senior  Jus 
tice  for  the  County  of  Richmond. 

1779.  Appointed  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  Richmond  County  Militia, 
and  actively  employed  in  the  field  in  resisting  the  advance  of  Colonel 
Campbell  upon  Augusta,  in  guarding  the  frontiers  of  Georgia,  and  in  re 
sisting  the  predatory  attacks  of  British,  Tories,  and  Indians. 

1779.     A  Commissioner  on  the  part  of  Georgia  to  bring  about  a  pacifi 
cation  of  the  Creek  and  Cherokee  nations. 

1779.  Again  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Georgia. 

1780.  A  delegate  from  Georgia  to  the  Continental  Congress. 

1781.  In  obedience  to  the  expressed  will  of  the  Continental  Congress, 
present  in  Georgia  to  assist   in  the  reconstruction  of  the  State  govern 
ment. 

1782.  A  second  time  a  delegate  to  the  Continental  Congress. 

1783.  Again  a  member  of  the  Georgia  Legislature. 

1784.  Admitted  to  the  Bar  in  Savannah. 

1  786.     Reflected  to  the  Continental  Congress. 

1787.  Delegate  from  Georgia  to  the  Philadelphia  Convention  for  re 
vising  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

1 788.  Member  of  the  Georgia  Convention  which  ratified  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States. 

1 789.  United  States  Senator  from  Georgia. 

1793.     Again  a  member  of  the  Georgia  Legislature. 

1796.     Appointed  Judge  of  the  Second  Judicial  Circuit  of  Georgia. 

1799.     Removed  to  New  York  city. 

1801-1804.     A  member  of  the  General  Assembly  of  New  York. 

1804.     Appointed  Commissioner  of  Loans. 

1802.     Inspector  of  the  New  York  State  Prison. 

1813-1814.     Alderman  of  the  8th  Ward  of  the  city  of  New  York. 

1804-1814.     Director  of  the  Manhattan  Bank. 

1814.     President  of  the  City  Bank. 


WILLIAM  FEW.  39 

He  was  also,  in  1 785,  one  of  the  original  trustees  for  establishing  the 
University  of  Georgia  ;  and  was  named  as  a  grantee  in  the  cession  from 
the  State  of  forty  thousand  acres  of  land  as  a  foundation  for  that  semi 
nary  of  learning. 

Mr.  Few  united  with  George  Walton  and  Richard  Howley  in  preparing 
and  signing,  in  Philadelphia,  in  January,  1781,  the  tract  entitled  "Ob 
servations  upon  the  Effects  of  certain  late  Political  Suggestions,"  in  which 
they  —  then  representing  Georgia  in  the  Continental  Congress — protest 
manfully  against  the  adoption  of  the  uti  possidetis  as  a  probable  basis  for 
peace  between  England  and  her  American  Colonies. 


WILLIAM  GIBBONS. 

THE  honorable  Thomas  Spalding,  then  far  advanced 
in  years,  in  1850  thus  narrates  his  recollections  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch.1  "  Mr.  Gibbons  was  my  law 
instructor.  After  my  own  father  he  was  the  best 
friend  I  ever  knew.  He  was  a  great  lawyer,  well  read 
in  his  profession,  which  he  acquired  in  Charleston  un 
der  the  direction  of  a  Mr.  Parsons,  —  an  Irish  gentle 
man  of  high  grade  in  the  law.  The  result  from  his 
professional  labors  while  I  lived  with  him  was  three 
thousand  pounds  sterling  a  year.  This  I  knew,  as  I 
was  his  collector  and  Mrs.  Gibbons  his  treasurer. 
There  was  then  no  bank  paper.  His  note-book  was  to 
him  of  great  value,  for  he  had  distinctly  noted  every 
important  case  that  had  occurred  during  his  whole 
practice,  giving  the  points  on  which  it  turned  and  the 
opinion  of  the  judge ;  and  as  these  judges  in  those 
times  were  Judge  Walton  of  Augusta  and  Judge 
Houstoun  of  Savannah,  these  decisions  carried  more 
weight  with  the  jury  than  the  decisions  of  the  King's 
Bench. 

"  Mr.  Gibbons  was  not  a  very  fluent  speaker.  He 
was  very  quick  in  discovering  the  weak  point  of  his 
opponent,  and  his  memory  was  always  ready  to  give 
the  law  that  bore  upon  it.  His  commentary  upon  the 
law  was  in  short,  in  clear,  distinct  terms,  very  pointed ; 
and  sometimes  he  indulged  in  witticisms,  which  in- 

1  The  Bench  and  Bar  of  Georgia,  vol.  ii.  p.  102.     Philadelphia,  1858. 


WILLIAM  GIBBONS.  41 

creased  as  he  grew  older  from  his  intimate  association 
with  Peter  Carnes  the  elder,  —  the  wittiest  lawyer  I 
ever  have  known,  and  whose  wit  obscured  his  profound 
law  knowledge  in  the  eyes  of  the  many.  Mr.  Gib 
bons  in  his  nature  was  very  open,  frank,  and  manly, 
and  very  determined.  This  gave  him  a  few  warm 
friends  and  many  bitter  enemies. 

"  It  gives  me  pleasure  to  state  that  General  James 
Jackson,  —  the  noblest  man  with  whom  it  has  been  my 
lot  to  be  acquainted,  —  when  I  called  upon  him  as  gov 
ernor1  to  give  me  a  letter  to  Mr.  King,  our  then 
Minister  in  London,  kept  me  to  dine  with  him ;  and  he 
asked  me  what  were  Mr.  Gibbons's  receipts  from  his 
profession  ?  I  replied  :  '  Three  thousand  pounds  per 
annum.'  His  response  was  :  '  My  own  were  about  that 
amount  when  I  unwisely  left  my  profession  for  poli 
tics.  Mr.  Gibbons,  as  a  whole,  was  the  greatest  lawyer 
in  Georgia.'  Let  me  say  to  you  that  General  Jack 
son  and  Mr.  Gibbons  had  exchanged  three  shots  at 
each  other;  they  were  considered  the  bitterest  enemies 
by  the  public.  A  high-minded  man  feels  no  enmity." 

Mr.  Gibbons  was  a  gentleman  of  large  wealth,  accu 
mulated,  it  is  believed,  by  judicious  investment  of  his 
professional  income.  It  was  upon  one  of  his  rice  plan 
tations,  situated  not  far  from  "  Mulberry  Grove  "  on 
the  Savannah  River,  and  while  as  the  guest  of  Mr. 
Gibbons  inspecting  his  growing  crop,  that  General 
Nathanael  Greene,  on  the  13th  of  June,  1786,  con 
tracted  the  illness  which  so  speedily  terminated  his 
valuable  life.  His  residence  in  Savannah  was  noted 
for  its  comfort  and  bountiful  hospitality.  It  was  the 

1  This  was  in  1798. 


42  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

day  of  rich  brown   sherry,   Madeira  wine,  and   good 
brandy. 

Upon  another  of  Mr.  Gibbons's  plantations  General 
Wayne,  in  June,  1782,  met  and  overcame  the  famous 
Indian  Chief  Guristersigo. 

While  intent  upon  the  practice  of  his  profession  and 
busied  with  his  private  affairs,  he  was  not  indifferent  to 
the  claims  of  country  or  an  idle  spectator  of  passing 
events.  His  sympathies  at  the  outset  were  cordially 
enlisted  on  the  side  of  the  "  Sons  of  Liberty,"  and  his 
time  and  services  were  cheerfully  given  to  furthering 
the  aims  of  the  rebels. 

He  was  one  of  the  party  which,  during  the  night  of 
the  llth  of  May,  1775,  broke  open  the  magazine  in 
Savannah  and  removed  therefrom  some  six  hundred 
pounds  of  the  king's  powder,  to  be  exploded  not  in  the 
honor,  but  in  defiance  of  his  Majesty. 

In  the  Provincial  Congress  of  July,  1775,  he  appeared 
as  a  delegate  from  the  District  of  Acton,  and  was  a 
member  of  the  committee  raised  to  acquaint  the  presi 
dent  of  the  Continental  Congress  with  the  proceedings 
of  the  Georgia  Congress. 

Of  the  Council  of  Safety  selected  on  the  llth  of  the 
following  December  he  was  chosen  a  member.  It  was 
by  direction  of  this  council  that  Governor  Wright  was 
arrested  and  confined.  So  far  as  we  can  learn,  Mr. 
Gibbons  never  bore  arms  during  the  struggle,  but  he 
was  almost  continuously  in  the  civil  service  of  the  com 
monwealth.  Of  that  Executive  or  Supreme  Council 
which,  in  July,  1779,  was  invested  with  extraordinary 
powers,  he  was  an  active  member. 

Aside  from  the  distinction  of  representing  Georgia 
in  the  Continental  Congress,1  he  was  complimented  in 

1  In  1784-86. 


WILLIAM   GIBBONS.  43 

1786  with  the  position  of  Associate  Justice  of  the 
County  of  Chatham ;  in  the  following  year  with  the 
speakership  of  the  House  of  Representatives ;  and  in 
1789  with  the  presidency  of  the  constitutional  con 
vention.  The  act  of  a  formal  acceptance,  by  Governor 
Walton,  from  Mr.  Gibbons  of  the  new  Constitution 
concluded  upon  by  that  convention  in  Augusta  on  the 
6th  of  May,  was  announced  to  the  town  by  a  salute  of 
eleven  guns. 

Mr.  Gibbons  died  in  Savannah  in  1800.  His  will 
bears  date  the  14th  of  June,  1799,  and  was  admitted 
to  probate  on  the  26th  of  November  in  the  following 
year.  It  is  now  of  record  in  the  office  of  the  Ordinary 
of  Chatham  County,  Georgia. 


JAMES  GUNN. 

BORN  of  humble  parentage  and  in  straitened  circum 
stances  in  Virginia,  in  1739,  and  having  acquired  such 
education  as  was  afforded  by  the  common  schools  in 
the  neighborhood,  Mr.  Gunn  applied  himself  to  the 
study  of  the  law,  and  was  in  due  course  called  to  the 
Bar. 

When  the  united  colonies  took  up  arms  against  the 
mother  country,  he  espoused  the  cause  of  the  Revolu 
tionists,  and,  in  his  native  State,  joined  the  rebel  army. 

As  a  captain  of  dragoons  he  participated,  under 
General  Wayne,  in  the  movement  for  the  relief  of 
Savannah,  Georgia,  in  1782 ;  and  upon  the  termination 
of  the  war  selected  that  town  as  his  home,  and  there 
resumed  the  practice  of  his  profession. 

He  was  fond  of  military  affairs,  and,  as  Colonel  of 
the  First  Eegiment  of  Chatham  County  Militia,  led  a 
detachment  of  state  troops  which  succeeded  in  dis 
persing  a  formidable  body  of  runaway  slaves,  who, 
having  been  trained  to  arms  by  the  British  during  their 
occupation  of  Savannah,  upon  the  cessation  of  hostili 
ties  styling  themselves  the  "King  of  England's  sol 
diers,"  and  refusing  to  return  to  the  abodes  of  their 
respective  owners,  formed  a  fortified  encampment  on 
Bear  Creek,  and  from  this  place  of  conjectured  secu 
rity  sallied  forth  by  night,  plundering  and  burning 
adjacent  plantations  on  both  sides  of  the  Savannah 
River. 


JAMES   GUNN.  45 

Subsequently  he  rose  to  the  grade  of  Brigadier- 
General  of  Georgia  Militia,  and  was,  by  Governor  Tel- 
fair,  summoned  to  a  council  of  war  to  devise  measures 
for  the  protection  of  the  State  against  the  incursions 
of  the  Creek  Indians. 

Of  violent  temper  and  inclined  to  quarrel,  shortly 
after  General  Greene  became  a  resident  of  Georgia, 
General  Gunn  challenged  him  for  an  alleged  wrong 
which  he  conceived  the  general  had  inflicted  upon  him 
during  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  At  the  time  of  the 
conjectured  injury,  General  Greene  had  been  Gunn's 
commanding  officer.  Declining  the  meeting,  and  dis 
avowing  all  responsibility  in  the  premises,  General 
Greene  planted  his  refusal  upon  the  broad  ground  that 
any  admission  of  accountability  under  the  circum 
stances  would  prove  totally  subversive  of  all  military 
discipline.  The  whole  matter  was  referred  to  General 
Washington,  who  unhesitatingly  justified  the  course 
pursued  by  his  favorite  lieutenant. 

The  Georgia  Legislature,  then  in  session  at  Augusta, 
on  the  10th  of  February,  1787,  elected  General  Gunn 
as  a  delegate  to  the  Continental  Congress ;  but  it  is 
believed  he  never  took  his  seat  as  a  member  of  that 
body. 

Of  the  first  Congress  which  convened  under  the 
Constitution  framed  by  the  Convention  of  1787,  Gen 
eral  Gunn  was  a  member.  He  was  also  a  United 
States  Senator  from  Georgia,  in  1795  and  1796.  While 
holding  this  high  office  he  became  implicated  in  the 
Yazoo  speculations,  involving  personal  disgrace  and  im 
pairing  the  fair  fame  of  the  commonwealth  which  he 
represented  in  the  Upper  House  of  the  National  Con 
gress.  He  was  one  of  the  three  grantees  of  The 


46  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Georgia  Company,  and  exerted  his  influence  to  com 
pass  a  cession  of  public  lands  in  direct  violation  of 
established  principles  of  justice  and  equity. 

Alluding  to  this  scheme  to  rob  the  State  of  Georgia 
of  its  western  territory,  Doctor  Stevens  observes  : l  — 

"  The  whole  State  was  heaving  with  excitement. 
The  bribery  which  had  been  so  openly  used  by  men 
high  in  office  on  the  Bench,  at  the  Bar,  and  in  the 
Senate,  and  the  corruption,  intrigue,  intimidation,  and 
violence  which  had  been  employed  to  gain  over  the 
Legislature  to  the  plans  of  the  speculators  constitute  a 
dark  page  in  the  political  history  of  Georgia.  One  of 
the  most  zealous  advocates  of  this  scheme  was  James 
Gunn.  This  man,  who  had  risen  from  almost  obscu 
rity  to  power  by  truckling  to  the  vulgar  tastes  of  the 
populace,  and  by  some  show  of  military  genius,  was, 
at  the  period  of  which  we  write,  a  Senator  of  Georgia 
in  Congress,  and  his  presence  there  was  needed  to 
guard  the  interests  of  the  State.  Yet,  sacrificing  all 
public  considerations  to  private  advantage,  he  remained 
in  Georgia,  repaired  to  Augusta,  and  by  his  influence 
and  efforts,  at  once  overbearing  and  unscrupulous,  be 
came  the  main  manager  of  this  nefarious  business. 
Having  secured  the  passage  of  the  bill,  he  then  repaired 
to  Congress,  which  he  reached  only  the  last  day  of 
February,  —  four  days  before  the  constitutional  close 
of  the  session,  —  and  there  sought  to  carry  out  his 
Georgia  schemes  by  involving  the  general  government 
also  in  these  questionable  transactions." 

In  these  efforts  he  was  thwarted  by  his  co-Senator 
from  Georgia,  —  a  gentleman  of  the  sternest  probity, 
jealous  of  personal  and  national  honor,  and  of  conspic- 

1  History  of  Georgia,  vol.  ii.  p.  478.     Philadelphia,  1859. 


JAMES   GUNN.  47 

uous  courage,  —  the  honorable  James  Jackson.  It  was 
chiefly  through  his  potent  intervention  that  the  re 
scinding  ad  was  passed,  that  the  scheme  to  rob  the 
commonwealth  of  its  valuable  western  territory  was 
exposed  to  public  apprehension  and  reprobation,  and 
that  the  legislative  proceedings  of  Georgia  were 
purged  of  this  flagrant  iniquity.  Disgrace  and  disap 
pointment  followed  hard  upon  exposure.  Senator 
Gunn  died  suddenly  at  Louisville,  Jefferson  County, 
Georgia  (then  the  capital  of  the  State),  on  the  30th 
of  July,  1S01.1  He  was  one  of  those  who  voted  for 
locating  the  seat  of  government  on  the  Potomac. 

While  an  active  and  brave  subaltern  in  the  Conti 
nental  Army,  and  a  man  of  determination  and  of  con 
siderable  force  of  character,  General  Gunn  was  violent, 
aggressive,  addicted  to  extravagant  statement  and  pro 
fane  swearing,  overbearing,  disposed  to  pander  to  the 
lowest  prejudices  of  the  populace,  unscrupulous  in  the 
means  employed  for  the  accomplishment  of  his  ambi 
tion,  vain,  boastful,  negligent  of  public  duty  when  in 
tent  upon  schemes  of  personal  advantage,  and  intoler 
ant  of  opposition.  The  architect  of  his  own  fortunes, 
he  builded  a  reputation  quite  marked,  but  in  some 
respects  unenviable. 

1  In  the  Georgia  Gazette  of  August  6th,  1801,  appears  the  following 
notice  of  his  death  :  "  Extract  of  a  Letter  from  Louisville,  dated  July 
31.  General  Gunn  arrived  here  last  Sunday,  and  died  last  night  at 
eleven  or  twelve  o'clock,  a  very  short  illness  indeed.  It  is  said  that  his 
death  was  greatly  owing  to  a  draught  of  cold  water  after  the  taking  of 
medicine ;  and,  what  is  strange,  the  doctor  and  several  gentlemen  were  in 
the  room,  and  not  one  observed  his  death  till  some  time  after  he  expired. 
He  is  to  be  buried  this  afternoon  with  the  honors  of  war." 

His  will  was  probated  in  Chatham  County,  Georgia,  on  the  10th  of 
May,  1808,  and  letters  testamentary  were  granted  to  Sarah  Gunn,  execu 
trix. 


BUTTON    GWINNETT. 

WITH  the  exception  of  the  last  five  or  six  years, 
which  were  rendered  somewhat  memorable  by  an  ac 
tive  participation  in  the  events  connected  with  the  in 
ception  and  progress  of  the  Revolution  in  Georgia,  and 
by  his  tragic  death,  Button  Gwinnett  appears  to  have 
spent  his  life  in  tranquillity  and  without  special  mark. 
Aside  from  the  Constitution  adopted  by  the  Georgia 
Convention  in  1777,  which  is  generally  supposed  to 
have  been,  in  large  measure,  the  offspring  of  his 
thought  and  political  sagacity,  we  have  no  monument 
either  of  his  literary  or  public  effort.  He  wrote  and 
spoke  but  seldom,  and  his  signatures  are  esteemed 
among  the  rarest  of  the  Signers  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence. 

His  birth  in  England  occurred  almost  contempo 
raneously  with  the  planting  of  the  colony  of  Georgia, 
at  Savannah,  by  the  illustrious  Oglethorpe.  That  his 
education  was  not  neglected  may  be  accepted  as  a 
fact,  although  it  was  perhaps  not  so  liberal  as  to  have 
inclined  him  to  the  adoption  of  one  of  the  learned  pro 
fessions.  In  early  manhood  he  engaged  in  mercantile 
pursuits  in  Bristol,  England.  This  city,  however,  in  a 
spirit  of  adventure,  he  soon  abandoned,  and  became  a 
resident  of  Charles-Town,  South  Carolina.  Here,  for  a 
season,  he  resumed  his  avocation  as  a  merchant ;  but, 
erelong,  attracted  by  the  growing  importance  of  the 
younger  Province  of  Georgia,  he  transferred  his  hopes 


BUTTON   GWINNETT.  49 

and  his  property  to  Savannah,  its  commercial  metro 
polis.  There,  as  early  as  1765,  we  find  him  established 
in  the  business  of  a  general  trader.  It  was  a  place  of 
limited  means,  and  trifling  were  the  ventures  of  its 
most  prosperous  merchants. 

The  establishment  of  a  convenient  highway  connect 
ing  the  town  of  Savannah  with  the  Scotch  settlement 
at  Darien,  on  the  Alatamaha  River,  tended  largely  to 
the  development  and  the  population  of  the  interme 
diate  swamp  region,  which  was  very  fertile,  and  well 
adapted  to  the  cultivation  of  rice?  cotton,  corn,  indigo, 
and  vegetables  and  fruits  of  various  sorts.  The  regula 
tion  prohibiting  the  introduction  of  negro  slaves  into 
the  Province  of  Georgia  had  been  abrogated,  and  for 
mer  restrictions  upon  the  alienation  of  lands  had  been 
removed.  Thus  encouraged,  and  allured  by  the  agri 
cultural  advantages  of  this  portion  of  the  Province, 
colonists  from  other  plantations  flocked  in  and  pos 
sessed  themselves  of  the  rich  deltas  of  the  Great  Ogee- 
chee,  the  Midway,  and  the  North  Newport  rivers.  The 
accession  of  the  Dorchester  congregation  —  consisting 
of  some  three  hundred  and  fifty  whites  and  fifteen 
hundred  negroes  —  materially  enhanced  the  wealth 
and  increased  the  population  of  this  Midway  District. 
It  contributed  to  the  rising  importance  of  the  village 
of  Sunbury,  situated  upon  a  bold  and  beautiful  bluff 
on  Midway  River,  which,  overlooking  the  placid  waters 
of  that  stream  and  the  intervening  low-lying  marshes, 
descries  in  the  distance  the  green  woods  of  Bermuda 
Island,  the  dim  outline  of  the  southern  point  of  Ossa- 
baw,  and,  across  the  Sound,  the  white  shores  of  St. 
Catharine. 


50  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

When  the  claim  of  Mary  Bosomworth  l  was  finally 
adjusted;  this  island  of  St.  Catharine,  upon  which  she 
had  fixed  her  home,  was  acknowledged  to  be  her  in 
dividual  property.  Apparently  dissatisfied  with  his 
mercantile  pursuits,  and  anxious  to  avail  himself  of  the 
attractions  offered  by  the  Midway  District,  fast  becom 
ing  the  most  influential  parish  in  the  Province,  Gvvin- 
nett,  about  1768,  converted  his  property  into  money 
and  purchased  a  portion  of  this  island  from  Thomas 
and  Mary  Bosomworth.  Including  some  cattle,  horses, 
hogs,  lumber,  and  a  plantation-boat,  the  cost  of  these 
premises  amounted  to  .£5,250.  With  some  negro 
slaves  he  there  established  a  plantation  and  turned  his 
attention  to  agriculture.  Indigo,  rice,  corn,  and  lum 
ber  were  the  staple  commodities  of  the  region.  His 
residence  was  in  easy  access  to  Sunbury,  then  the  rival 
of  Savannah  in  population  and  commercial  impor 
tance.2  With  Dr.  Lyman  Hall  —  the  leading  physi 
cian  in  the  community,  and  one  of  the  earliest  and 
most  influential  "  Sons  of  Liberty"  in  the  Province  — 
he  contracted  a  strong  personal  and  political  friend 
ship.  To  this  association  may  probably  be  referred 
the  active  interest  which  Gwinnett  soon  manifested  in 
the  political  fortunes  of  the  Province,  then  on  the  eve 
of  a  mighty  revolution. 

His  first  public  service  of  which  we  find  any  mention 

1  Her  Indian  name  was  Cowsaponckesa.     Claiming  to  be  of  royal  blood, 
she  was  in  turn  the  wife  of  John  Musgrove,  Jacob  Matthews,  and  of  the 
Rev.    Thomas  Bosomworth,   at  one  time  chaplain   to  Oglethorpe's  regi 
ment.     She  had  rendered  various  and  valuable  services  to  the  colonists. 

2  On  the  16th  of  September,  1768,  Mr.   Gwinnett  was,   by  Governor 
James  Wright,  appointed  a  commissioner  "  for  regulating  the  pilotage  for 
the  Bar  of  Saint  Catharine  and  the  river  Midway  in  the  Parish  of   Saint 
John  and  Province  of  Georgia."     He  also  held  a  commission  from  the 
crown  as  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  St.  John's  Parish. 


BUTTON   GWINNETT.  51 

was  rendered  as  a  delegate  from  the  Parish  of  St.  John 
to  the  Provincial  Congress  which  convened  in  Savan 
nah  on  the  20th  of  January,  1776.  By  that  Congress 
he  was  selected,  in  association  with  Archibald  Bulloch, 
John  Houstoun,  Lyman  Hall,  and  George  Walton,  as  a 
delegate  to  the  Continental  Congress.  In  that  national 
assembly  he  appeared  on  the  20th  of  the  following 
May,  and,  as  one  of  the  members  from  Georgia,  affixed 
his  signature  to  the  Declaration  proclaiming  the  inde 
pendence  of  the  United  Colonies. 

On  the  30th  of  August,  1776,  Mr.  Gwinnett  pre 
sented  to  the  Council  of  Safety  certified  resolutions  of 
the  Continental  Congress  authorizing  the  enlistment  of 
a  regiment  of  Rangers,  horse  and  foot,  —  two  bat 
talions,  two  companies  of  Artillery  to  garrison  the  forts 
at  Savannah  and  Sunbury  to  be  erected  at  the  expense 
of  Georgia,  and  the  construction  of  four  galleys,  to  be 
built  at  the  charge  of  the  general  government  and  un 
der  the  supervision  of  the  Governor  of  Georgia,  —  all 
intended  for  the  defense  of  that  State,  and  to  be  placed 
upon  the  Continental  establishment.  In  compassing 
the  passage  of  these  resolutions  and  in  carrying  them 
into  practical  effect  he  was  largely  instrumental. 

On  the  7th  of  October  in  the  same  year  he  became 
a  member  of  the  Council  of  Safety,  still  retaining  his 
position  as  a  delegate  to  the  Continental  Congress. 

With  the  framing  and  passage  of  the  Constitution  of 
1777,  which  for  twelve  years  defined  and  supported 
the  rights  of  Georgia  as  an  independent  State,  Button 
Gwinnett  had  much  to  do.  In  truth,  he  was  regarded 
as  the  parent  of  that  instrument;  the  provisions  of 
which  were,  in  the  main,  well  considered,  wise,  and 
adapted  to  the  emergency.  Not  a  few  of  them  have 


52  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

withstood  the  changes  of  more  than  a  century.  To 
the  present  day  are  their  beneficial  influences  recog 
nized  and  approved. 

Such  was  the  alarming  condition  of  public  affairs, 
and  so  menacing  the  attitude  assumed  by  Florida,  that 
a  short  time  before  his  death  Button  Gwinnett,  Jona 
than  Bryan,  William  Bryan,  Adam  F.  Brisbane,  and 
John  Bohun  Girardeau  —  members  of  the  Council  of 
Safety  —  addressed  a  communication  to  President 
Archibald  Bulloch,  requesting  him  "  to  take  upon  him 
self  the  whole  executive  powers  of  government,  and 
to  call  in  to  his  assistance  not  less  than  five  persons  of 
his  own  choosing,  with  whom  he  might  consult  and  ad 
vise  on  every  urgent  occasion  when  a  sufficient  num 
ber  of  Councillors  could  not  be  convened  to  make  a 
board." 

In  February,  1777,  Archibald  Bulloch  —  the  first 
Republican  President  and  Commander-in-Chief  of 
Georgia ;  who  was  a  tower  of  strength  to  the  Re 
volutionists  ;  whose  personal  integrity,  high  sense  of 
honor,  patriotism,  admirable  executive  abilities,  hon 
esty  of  thought  and  purpose,  sturdy  manhood,  un 
questioned  courage,  and  comprehensive  views  of  the 
public  good  were  invaluable  in  shaping  the  conduct 
and  maintaining  the  dignity  of  the  infant  common 
wealth  ;  who,  with  ceremonies  the  most  august,  had 
promulgated  the  Declaration  of  Independence  in 
Savannah,  and  in  all  his  acts  had  commanded  the  re 
spect,  confidence,  and  devotion  of  his  fellow  citizens  — 
passed  away  suddenly,  the  lamp  of  liberty  in  his  hand 
trimmed  and  burning,  his  noble  character,  exalted  im 
pulses,  and  brave  deeds  constituting  a  precious  legacy 
to  his  people.  The  infant  State  was  filled  with  mourn 


ing. 


BUTTON   GYVINNETT.  53 

By  the  Council  of  Safety  was  Gwinnett,  on  the  4th 
of  March,  1777,  elected  President  and  Commander-in- 
Chief  of  Georgia  in  the  place  of  President  Bulloch.  In 
that  capacity  he  was  to  serve  until  such  time  as  a 
governor  could  be  duly  appointed  in  obedience  to  ex 
isting  constitutional  provisions.  Thus  had  he  rapidly 
attained  unto  the  highest  honor  within  the  gift  of  the 
commonwealth. 

On  the  same  day  the  Council  of  Safety  (at  the  ur 
gent  suggestion,  it  is  said,  of  the  newly  elected  Presi 
dent),  "  in  view  of  the  suffering  condition  of  many  of 
the  inhabitants  of  East  Florida  inclining  them  to  throw 
themselves  on  the  people  of  Georgia  for  protection, 
and  the  alarmed  condition  of  the  Southern  frontier  on 
account  of  the  frequent  inroads  and  depredations  of 
the  Floridians,"  passed  an  order  "  requesting  President 
Gwinnett  to  march  into  Florida,  with  a  competent 
force  of  militia  and  volunteers,  erecting  the  American 
standard  as  he  went,  and  proclaiming  protection  and 
security  of  person  and  property  to  all  who  would  take 
the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United  States."  He  was 
also  urged  "  to  cut  off  all  supplies  from  the  garrison 
of  St.  Augustine."  In  his  absence  upon  the  contem 
plated  expedition,  Jonathan  Bryan  was  chosen  to  pre 
side  over  the  Council. 

The  following  is  the  full  text  of  the  commission  of 
Button  Gwinnett  as  President  and  Command er-in-Chief 
of  Georgia  :  — 

"  At  a  Council  held  at  Savannah,  in  the  State  of 
Georgia,  the  fourth  day  of  March  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy  seven, 
appointed  by  the  Representatives  of  the  People  of  the 
State  of  Georgia  aforesaid  : 


54  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

To  our  trusty  and  well-beloved  BUTTON  GWINNETT, 
Esquire,  Greeting : 

"  Whereas  it  was  thought  necessary  by  the  Represen 
tatives  of  the  people  of  this  State  [then  Province],  in 
General  Congress  assembled  on  the  third  day  of  April 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  seventy-six,  to  appoint  proper  officers  from  among 
themselves  or  the  people  at  large  for  the  execution  of 
certain  powers  to  them  respectively  delegated  and  in 
trusted  : 

"  And  whereas  the  same  People  by  their  Represen 
tatives  in  Congress  assembled  did,  by  their  special 
commission,  constitute  and  appoint  their  trusty  and 
well-beloved  Friend,  Archibald  Bulloch,  Esquire,  Presi 
dent  and  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  State  aforesaid, 
giving  and  granting  unto  the  said  Archibald  Bulloch 
such  full  power  and  authority  as  is  in  the  said  commis 
sion  fully  and  clearly  pointed  out  and  set  forth : 

"And  whereas  the  said  Congress  did  further  re 
solve  that  in  case  of  the  death  or  inability  to  act  of 
such  their  President,  so  by  them  appointed,  that  then 
and  in  such  case,  during  the  recess  of  Congress  afore 
said,  the  Council  aforesaid  should  have  full  power  and 
authority  to  appoint  from  among  themselves  such 
other  person  to  the  office  of  President,  so  happening  to 
be  vacant  from  the  causes  aforesaid,  as  to  them  should 
seem  meet: 

"  And  whereas  the  said  Archibald  Bulloch,  Esquire, 
hath  since  departed  this  life,  whereby  the  Executive 
Powers  of  Administration  have  devolved  upon  us  the 
Council  aforesaid  : 

u  And  whereas  we  have  under  those  circumstances, 
in  the  name  of  the  good  People  of  the  State  aforesaid, 


BUTTON   GWINNETT.  55 

and  agreeable  to  the  power  vested  in  us,  thought 
proper  to  elect  and  appoint  you,  the  said  BUTTON 
GWINNETT,  President  and  Cornmander-in-Chief  of  the 
said  State  : 

"  Know  ye  therefore  that  we,  the  Council  aforesaid, 
during  the  Recess  of  the  Legislative  Body  of  the 
State  aforesaid,  by  whatsoever  name  they  may  be 
called,  reposing  special  Trust  and  confidence  in  the 
Prudence,  Courage,  Patriotism,  and  Integrity  of  you 
the  said  Button  Gwinnett,  have  thought  fit  to  consti 
tute  and  appoint,  and  by  these  Presents  do  constitute 
and  appoint  you,  the  said  Button  Gwinnett,  to  be 
President  and  Comman der-in- Chief  of  the  State  of 
Georgia  aforesaid,  agreeable  to  the  powers  and  au 
thority  vested  in  us  by  the  Resolves  and  Regulations 
of  the  said  Congress.  And  we  do  hereby  charge  and 
command  you  to  do  and  execute  all  things  in  due 
manner  that  shall  belong  unto  your  said  command, 
and  the  trust  we  have  reposed  in  you,  according  to 
the  several  powers  and  authorities  granted  or  ap 
pointed  you  by  this  present  commission,  and  the  Rules, 
Laws,  and  Regulations  herewith  given  you,  or  by  such 
further  Powers,  Jurisdiction,  and  Authorities  as  shall 
at  any  time  hereafter  be  granted  or  appointed  you  by 
the  present  or  any  future  Legislature  of  the  said  State, 
and  according  to  such  Resolves,  Laws,  and  Statutes  as 
now  are  in  force,  or  hereafter  shall  be  made  and  agreed 
upon  by  any  future  Legislature  of  the  said  State, 
legally  convened  under  your  government,  in  such  man 
ner  and  form  as  is  hereafter  expressed. 

"  And  our  pleasure  is  that  you,  the  said  Button 
Gwinnett,  after  the  publication  of  this  our  Commis 
sion  and  Authority,  do  in  the  first  place  take  the  oath 


56  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

appointed  to  be  taken  as  President  and  Commander- 
in-Chief  of  the  State  of  Georgia  aforesaid :  And  also 
take,  subscribe,  and  acknowledge  the  Test  or  Declara 
tion  also  appointed  to  be  taken,  subscribed,  and  ac 
knowledged  by  the  said  Congress,  which  said  oath  our 
Attorney  General,  in  the  name  of  us  the  Council  afore 
said,  hath  full  power  and  authority  to  administer  unto 
you  :  And  we  do  hereby  give  and  grant  unto  you 
full  Power  and  Authority,  with  the  Advice,  Consent, 
and  Approbation  of  us,  the  said  Council,  [whereof 
seven  shall  be  a  quorum]  from  time  to  time,  as  need 
shall  require,  to  summon  and  call  the  General  Congress 
of  this  State,  or  by  whatever  name  the  same  be  called, 
when  the  same  shall  be  adjourned  or  any  recess  thereof 
happen  and  necessity  require.  And  you,  the  said 
Button  Gwinnett,  with  the  Advice  and  Consent  of  the 
Council  aforesaid,  shall  appoint  Magistrates  to  act  dur 
ing  pleasure  in  the  several  Parishes  of  this  State  for 
the  better  advancement  of  Justice,  and  for  the  good 
order  and  quiet  of  the  people  under  your  command, 
and  putting  the  Laws  in  execution,  and  to  administer 
or  cause  to  be  administered  unto  them  such  oath  or 
oaths  as  are  now  given  for  the  due  Execution  and  Per 
formance  of  offices  and  places,  and  for  the  clearing  of 
Truth  in  all  cases  whatever.  And  we  do  hereby 
authorize,  and  give  and  grant  unto  you  full  power  and 
authority,  with  the  Advice,  Consent,  Direction,  and 
Approbation  of  us,  the  Council  aforesaid,  when  you 
shall  see  cause,  or  shall  judge  any  offender  or  offend 
ers  in  criminal  matters  who  have  been  found  guilty 
and  condemned  by  the  Courts  of  Justice,  properly 
erected,  or  for  any  fines  or  forfeitures  due  unto  the 
State,  fit  objects  of  mercy,  to  pardon  all  such  offend- 


BUTTON   GWINNETT.  57 

ers,  and  to  remit  all  such  fines  and  forfeitures  [wilful 
murder  only  excepted],  in  which  case  ycu  shall  like 
wise  have  power,  upon  extraordinary  occasions,  to 
grant  Eeprieves  unto  the  offenders  until  you  may  be 
further  advised  in  the  premises.  And  we  do  by  these 
presents  give  and  grant  unto  you,  the  said  Button 
Gwinnett,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Council, 
by  yourself,  or  by  your  Captain  and  Commander  by 
you  to  be  authorized,  full  power  and  authority  to  levy, 
arm,  muster,  command  and  employ  all  persons  whatso 
ever  residing  within  the  said  State  of  Georgia  under 
your  Government ;  and,  as  occasion  shall  serve,  to 
march  from  one  place  to  another,  or  to  embark  them 
for  the  resisting  and  withstanding  of  all  enemies, 
pirates,  and  powers  coming  with  hostile  intention 
against  the  State  both  at  sea  and  land,  if  necessity 
shall  require  for  defence  of  the  same  against  the  in 
vasion  or  attempts  of  any  of  our  enemies ;  and  such 
enemies,  if  there  shall  be  occasion,  to  pursue  and 
prosecute  in  or  out  of  the  limits  of  this  State  :  and,  if 
it  shall  so  please  God,  them  to  vanquish,  apprehend, 
and  take  ;  and  being  taken,  either  according  to  law 
to  put  to  death,  or  keep  and  preserve  alive  at  your 
discretion. 

"And  we  do  hereby  give  and  grant  unto  you  full 
power  and  authority,  by  and  with  the  advice  and 
consent  of  us,  the  said  Council,  to  erect,  raise,  and 
build  in  the  said  State  of  Georgia,  during  the  ad 
journment  or  recess  of  the  said  Congress  or  Legislative 
Body,  such  and  so  many  Forts,  Platforms,  Castles,  and 
Fortifications  as  you,  by  the  advice  aforesaid,  shall 
judge  necessary  :  and  the  same  or  any  of  them  to  for 
tify  and  furnish  with  ordnance,  ammunition,  and  all 


58  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

sorts  of  stores  fit  and  necessary  for  the  security  and 
defence  of  the  said  State ;  and  by  the  advice  afore 
said,  the  same  again  to  demolish  or  dismantle  as  may 
be  most  convenient.  And  generally  to  do  and  execute 
all  and  every  thing  and  things  agreeable  to  the  laws, 
regulations,  and  proceedings  of  Congress,  and  the 
Constitution  under  which  you  are  called  forth  to  act, 
and  which  to  you,  the  said  Button  Gwinnett  —  as  our 
President  and  Commander-in-Chief —  doth,  or  ought 
of  right  to  belong. 

"  And  we  do  hereby  require,  charge,  and  command 
all  officers  and  ministers,  civil  and  military,  and  all 
other  inhabitants  of  the  State  of  Georgia  to  be  obedi 
ent:  aiding  and  assisting  you,  the  said  Button  Gwin 
nett,  in  the  execution  of  this  our  commission,  and  of 
the  Powers  and  Authorities  herein  contained,  and  ac 
cording  to  the  true  sense  and  meaning  thereof. 

"  This  commission  to  continue  and  be  in  force  until 
revoked  by  the  Legislative  authority  of  this  State. 

"  Signed  and  sealed  by  us  in  the  Council  Chamber  in 
Savannah  the  fourth  day  of  March  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy  seven. 

JONATH  BRYAN. 

JAS.  DUNWODY. 

WILLIAM  BRYAN. 

SAMUEL  SALTUS. 

B.  ANDREW. 

ADAM  BRISBANE. 

JN°.  B.  GIRARDEAU. 
By  command. 

JAMES  WHITEFIELD,  Secretary" 

Prior  to  issuing  this    commission   a   resolution    had 


BUTTON   GWINNETT  59 

been  adopted  by  the  General  Assembly  to  add  three 
battalions  of  infantry  and  a  squadron  of  dragoons  to 
the  Georgia  troops  serving  on  the  Continental  estab 
lishment,  and  to  form  them  into  a  brigade.  Colonel 
Lachlan  Mclntosh  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  briga 
dier-general,  and  assigned  to  the  command  of  these 
forces.  Gwinnett  had  been  a  candidate  for  this  posi 
tion,  and  he  became  thoroughly  embittered  by  Mc- 
Intosh's  success.  When  he  assumed  the  reins  of  gov 
ernment  he  permitted  not  his  anger  to  slumber.  In 
order  to  mortify  the  military  pride  of  his  adversary 
and  to  impair  his  influence,  he  impressed  upon  the 
public  mind  the  danger  of  investing  army  officers  and 
courts-martial  with  powers  which  could  possibly  be 
withheld  from  them  and  entrusted  to  the  civil  authori 
ties.  Acting  upon  this  theory,  he  intervened  in  mili 
tary  matters  to  such  an  extent  that  he  seriously  im 
paired  the  discipline  of  the  troops,  and  incited  among 
the  officers  a  spirit  of  insubordination  toward  the 
commanding  general.  Thus,  when  an  officer  was 
charged  with  an  offense,  either  civil  or  military,  Gwin 
nett  claimed  the  right  of  trying  him  before  the  Execu 
tive  Council.  If  detailed  for  special  duty,  or  assigned 
to  a  temporary  command  of  moment,  he  insisted  that 
he  should  take  his  orders  from  the  president  and  coun 
cil.  The  effect  of  all  this,  as  may  well  be  imagined, 
was  demoralizing  to  the  army  and  most  galling  to 
General  Mclntosh. 

Anxious  to  signalize  his  administration  by  a  feat  of 
arms,  Gwinnett,  acting  upon  the  suggestion  of  Council, 
planned  the  expedition  against  East  Florida.  The 
prospect  of  retaliation  was  pleasing  to  the  public,  and 
in  the  breast  of  the  president  there  lurked  an  ambi- 


60  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

tious  hope  that  he  would  be  able  to  overrun  and  subdue 
that  sparsely  populated  province  and  annex  it  to 
Georgia.  Instead  of  entrusting  its  command  to  Gen 
eral  Mclntosh,  who,  as  the  ranking  military  officer  of 
the  State,  was  clearly  entitled  to  expect  and  to  claim 
it,  Gwinnett,  heaping  affront  upon  affront,  set  him 
aside,  and  determined  in  person  to  lead  the  expedition. 
His  deliberate  purpose  was,  with  the  militia  of  the 
State  and  the  Continental  troops  then  stationed  in 
Georgia,  to  form  an  army  of  invasion  without  consult 
ing  General  Mclntosh  on  the  subject,  or  even  allowing 
him  to  accompany  his  brigade.  The  movement  was  to 
be  immediate.  Proclamations  were  printed  which  he 
proposed  to  scatter  broadcast  through  the  land  so  soon 
as  he  crossed  the  river  St.  Mary.  He  labored  under 
the  impression  that,  to  insure  success  and  encourage 
the  inhabitants  to  a  change  of  government,  nothing 
would  be  needed  save  to  hoist  the  standard  of  liberty 
in  Florida  and  make  a  show  of  a  supporting  army. 
Advised,  however,  that  the  province  of  East  Florida 
was  in  large  measure  peopled  by  loyalists  from  Georgia 
and  South  Carolina,  that  no  reliance  for  subsistence 
could  be  placed  upon  the  products  of  the  region,  and 
that  an  accumulation  of  supplies  was  requisite  before 
he  could  venture  upon  the  expedition,  he  abandoned 
his  scheme  as  at  first  chimerically  entertained. 

Still  intent  upon  the  consummation  of  his  ambitious 
project,  and  reiterating  his  resolution  to  lead  the  army 
in  person,  he  assembled  his  Council,  denominating  it  for 
the  time  being  a  council  of  war,  and  concerted  the  fol 
lowing  plan  of  operations.  Sawpit  Bluff,  twelve  miles 
from  the  mouth  of  the  river  St.  John,  was  designated 
as  the  place,  and  the  12th  of  May  as  the  time,  for  the 


BUTTON   GWINNETT.  61 

rendezvous  of  the  forces  which  were  to  participate  in 
the  contemplated  reduction  of  East  Florida.  Colonel 
Baker,  with  the  Georgia  militia,  was  to  march  by  land, 
while  Colonel  Elbert,  embarking  four  hundred  of  the 
Continental  troops  in  three  galleys  and  several  small 
boats,  was  to  repair  by  water  to  the  point  indicated. 
Having,  with  great  difficulty,  crossed  the  Alatamaha 
Eiver  at  Fort  Howe,  Colonel  Baker  moved  with  only 
one  hundred  and  nine  men  in  the  execution  of  the 
order  entrusted  to  him.  Near  Nassau  River  he  was 
defeated  by  Colonels  Brown  and  McGirth,  and  his 
command  was  wholly  dissipated. 

Colonel  Elbert  was  sorely  perplexed  upon  finding 
that  he  was  commissioned  to  lead  the  Continental 
forces,  detailed  for  the  expedition,  to  the  exclusion  of 
General  Mclntosh,  who,  as  his  superior  officer,  was  en 
titled  to  claim  that  distinction.  He  was  also  greatly 
concerned  at  the  abnormal  condition  of  affairs  brought 
about  by  orders  emanating  from  President  Gwinnett 
and  his  Council,  by  which  he  was  required  to  report 
directly  to,  and  to  receive  his  instructions  from,  the 
Governor  and  Council.  Communicating  with  General 
Mclntosh,  he  advised  him  of  the  disagreeable  situation 
in  which  he  found  himself,  and  expressed  his  regrets 
that  the  orders  issued  did  not  come  through  him  as  his 
commanding  general.  He  even  went  so  far  as  to  re 
monstrate  with  the  Governor  and  Council  in  regard  to 
this  irregularity.  Gwinnett,  however,  controlled  his 
Council,  insisted  upon  his  rights  as  commander-in-chief, 
and,  being  of  an  imperious  will  and  implacable  in  his 
hate,  continued  to  supplant  General  Mclntosh  and  to 
subject  him  to  humiliation.  The  detachment  of  Con 
tinentals  led  by  Colonel  Elbert  utterly  failed  in  its  pur- 


62  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

pose  ;  and  so,  without  benefit  and  pregnant  with  dis 
aster,  ended  an  expedition  conceived  in  ambition  and 
jealousy,  planned  without  due  caution,  and  sadly 
marred  in  its  execution. 

Responding  to  the  emergency  caused  by  the  la 
mented  death  of  Archibald  Bulloch,  and  in  the  exer 
cise  of  his  gubernatorial  powers,  President  Gwinnett 
issued  a  proclamation  requiring  the  several  counties  of 
the  State  to  elect  delegates  to  a  legislature  which 
should  convene  in  Savannah  on  the  first  Tuesday  in 
May,  1777.  The  first  and  chief  duty  of  this  assembly 
was  to  elect  a  successor  to  President  Bulloch.  Gwin 
nett  was  an  avowed  candidate  for  the  position.  The 
Legislature  met  in  due  season,  and,  after  organizing 
by  the  selection  of  Dr.  Noble  W.  Jones  as  speaker  and 
Samuel  Stirk  as  secretary,  proceeded  to  the  choice  of 
a  governor.  John  Adam  Treutlen  was  elected  by  a 
handsome  majority.  Grievous  was  Gwinnett's  disap 
pointment.  Mclntosh  did  not  hesitate  to  openly  avow 
his  gratification  at  the  result.  In  fact,  he  publicly  and 
in  the  presence  of  the  members  of  the  Executive 
Council  denounced  Gwinnett  as  a  scoundrel.  The  quar 
rel  between  these  gentlemen  culminated  on  the  15th 
of  May,  when  Gwinnett  challenged  Mclntosh  to  mor 
tal  combat.  The  challenge  was  promptly  accepted. 
They  met  the  next  morning  at  a  spot  within  the  pres 
ent  limits  of  the  city  of  Savannah.  Pistol  shots  were 
exchanged  at  the  short  distance  of  four  paces.  Both 
were  wounded  in  the  thigh  :  Mclntosh  dangerously, 
Gwinnett  mortally.  The  former  was  confined  to  his 
couch  for  some  time,  and  the  latter,  after  lingering  for 
four  days,  died  of  his  hurt.1 

1  For  Dr.  Lyman  Hall's  account  of  this  duel,  see  his  sketch,  post. 


BUTTON   GWINNETT.  63 

Intense  excitement  ensued.  Dr.  Lyman  Hall,  one  of 
Gwinnett's  executors  and  a  warm  personal  friend  of 
the  deceased,  and  Mr.  Joseph  Wood  brought  the  mat 
ter  to  the  notice  of  the  Legislature,  and  charged  the 
judicial  officers  with  a  neglect  of  duty  in  not  arresting 
Mclntosh  and  binding  him  over  to  answer  an  indict 
ment  for  murder.  Informed  of  these  proceedings,  so 
soon  as  his  wound  permitted,  the  general  surrendered 
himself  to  Judge  Glen  and  entered  into  bonds  for  his 
appearance.  He  was  indicted,  tried,  and  acquitted. 
Even  this  determination  of  the  matter  did  not  allay 
the  malevolent  feelings  of  the  Gwinnett  party,  who, 
incensed  at  the  loss  of  their  leader,  used  every  exer 
tion  to  impair  the  influence  of  Mclntosh  and  to  fetter 
his  efforts  in  the  public  service.  Moved  by  these  un 
toward  circumstances,  and  yielding  to  the  suggestion 
of  his  friends,  the  general  consented  to  leave  Georgia 
for  the  time  being,  and  repaired  to  General  Washing 
ton's  headquarters  for  assignment  to  duty  with  the 
Continental  army.  Nearly  two  years  elapsed  before 
he  returned  to  the  State.  During  that  time  he  ren 
dered  valuable  service  in  the  common  cause. 

The  tradition  lingers  that  Button  Gwinnett  was  in 
terred  in  the  old  cemetery  in  Savannah.  So  far  as  our 
information  extends,  no  stone  marks  his  grave,  and  the 
precise  spot  of  his  sepulture  has  faded  from  the  recol 
lection  of  succeeding  generations.  When  the  monu 
ment  which  rises  in  front  of  the  City  Hall  in  Augusta, 
perpetuating  the  memory  of  the  signers  from  Georgia 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  was  erected,  the 
hope  of  its  patriotic  builders  was  that  it  would  cover 
the  dust  of  all  three  of  them.  The  mortal  remains  of 
Dr.  Lyman  Hall  and  of  Chief  Justice  George  Walton 


64  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

were  readily  found,  and  were  then  committed  to  the 
guardian  care  of  this  memorial  shaft.  After  careful 
search,  no  trace  could  be  discovered  of  the  last  resting- 
place  of  Gwinnett,  and  he  still  sleeps  in  a  grave  which 
will  probably  never  be  identified. 

Specimens  of  the  chirography  of  this  signer  are  very 
rare.  He  evidently  wrote  but  little.  He  died  in  the 
forty-fifth  year  of  his  age,  and  his  public  life  extended 
through  only  a  few  y  ears.  We  have  looked  upon  his 
original  will.  It  still  exists.  It  is  a  holograph.  The 
following  is  a  literal  copy  of  it :  — 

SAVANNAH,  March  15th,  1777. 

I  in  sound  in  Body  and  Mind  for  which  I  am  under 
the  highest  obligations  to  the  Supreme  Being.  How 
long  I  shall  remain  so  God  only  knoweth  :  I  therefore 
Dispose  of  my  Property1  both  real  and  Personal  in 
the  Following  manner. 

First.  Let  all  my  Just  Debts  be  Discharged,  then 
One  half  of  my  Real  and  Personal  Estate  remaining 
be  divided  between  my  Wife  and  Daughter  in  equal 
Shares. 

The  other  Half  of  my  Estate  both  real  and  Per 
sonal  shall  belong  to  and  appertain  unto  the  Revd  Mr 
Thos  Bosomworth  his  Heirs  and  Assigns  forever,  he 
the  said  Thos  Bosomworth  first  giving  a  rec*  in  full  of 
all  other  Demands. 

This  is  my  last  Will  and  Testament  and  I  hereby 
revoke  all  other  Wills  and  Codicils. 

The  above  is  only  intended  to  convey  my  Estate  in 
America. 

1  Besides  his  plantation  on  St.  Catharine  Island,  Mr.  Gwinnett  was  the 
owner  of  Sutherland's  Bluff,  —  a  tract  of  a  thousand  acres  of  land  in  Lib 
erty  County,  —  and  of  several  other  parcels  of  well-located  land. 


BUTTON   GWINNETT.  65 

I  hereby  appoint  Tho8  Savage  and  Lyman  Hall 
Esqrs  as  Executors  to  this  my  last  Will  and  Testament. 

BUTTON  GWINNETT     [seal]. 

Witness 
Ja3  Foley. 
Wm  Hornby. 
Thorn3  Hovenden. 

The  foregoing  will  was  admitted  to'  probate  by 
James  Whitefield,  "  Register  of  Probates,"  on  the  30th 
of  May,  1777.  On  the  same  day  Lyman  Hall  qualified 
as  Executor.1 

It  would  appear  by  the  affidavits  of  William  Hornby 
and  Thomas  Hovenden,  —  two  of  the  subscribing  wit 
nesses,  —  that  while  this  will  bears  date  on  the  15th 
of  March,  1777,  it  was  actually  published  and  wit 
nessed  on  or  about  the  16th  of  May,  1777.  Hornby's 
affidavit  reads  as  follows  :  — 

Christ  Church  Parish  >  Court  of  Registry 
&  County  of  Chatham  )         of  Probates. 

William  Hornby  of  Savannah  &  State  aforesaid 
Gentln  personally  appeared  &  being  sworn  maketh 
Oath  that  the  within  named  Button  Gwinnett  Esqr  did, 
on  or  about  friday  the  16th  day  of  this  inst  May,  de 
liver  the  paper  to  this  deponent,  now  produced,  pur 
porting  to  be  his  will,  and  said  to  this  deponent  in 
words  following,  viz*  "  this  is  my  Will,  sign  as  a  witness 
thereto,  and  keep  it,  and  if  anything  happens  to  me 
read  it  &  you'l  know  what  to  do  with  it ; "  and  this 
deponent  further  saith  He  verily  believes  He,  the  said 
Button  Gwinnett,  the  Testator,  was,  at  that  time  of 

1  The  inventory  and  appraisement  of  the  estate  of  Mr.  Gwinnett  are  on 
file  in  the  office  of  the  Ordinary  of  Chatham  County,  Georgia. 
5 


66  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

sound  and  disposing  mind  and  memory ;  and  that  at 
the  time  He  signed  the  same  as  a  witness,  He  saw  Ja8 
Foley's  name  also  subscribed  thereto  as  a  witness,  & 
further  saith  not. 

WM.  HORNBY. 

Sworn  the  30th 
May  1777  Before 
Jam8  Whitefield 
Regr  of  Probates. 

Thomas  Hovenden,  in  his  affidavit,  corroborates  the 
statement  made  by  Mr.  Hornby.  We  extract  the  fol 
lowing  from  his  oath  made  before  the  Register  of  Pro 
bates  on  the  30th  of  May,  1777  :  "  The  within  named 
Button  Gwinnett  Esqr  decd  did,  on  or  about  the  16th 
day  of  this  ins*  May,  deliver  the  paper  now  produced, 
in  his  presence,  to  Mr  Wm  Hornby,  a  subscribing  Wit 
ness  thereto,  saying  at  the  same  time  '  that  it  was  His 
Will/  or  words  to  that  purpose,  and  asked  this  de 
ponent  to  sign  the  same ;  and  this  deponent  says  that 
He  did  sign  his  Name  thereto  as  a  Witness,  &  further 
saith  that  He  is  well  acquainted  with  the  Hand  writing 
of  the  said  Button  Gwinnett  Esqr  decd,  and  that  he 
verily  believes  that  the  said  paper  now  produced  as 
his  will  is  in  the  Hand  writing  of  the  said  Button 
Gwinnett,"  etc. 

The  period  was  hazardous,  and  life  peculiarly  uncer 
tain.  We  conclude  that  Gwinnett  drew  his  will  at  the 
time  the  instrument  bears  date  in  anticipation  of  lead 
ing  his  projected  expedition  against  East  Florida,  and 
then  signed  it,  but  failed  to  have  it  witnessed.  In 
this  state  the  instrument  remained  in  his  hands  until, 
warned  by  the  impending  duel  with  Mclntosh,  and 
upon  the  eve  of  that  unfortunate  affair,  he  completed 


BUTTON   GWINNETT.  67 

its  publication  and  committed  it  to  the  care  of  Mr.  Wil 
liam  Hornby,  one  of  the  subscribing  witnesses,  with  an 
injunction  which  denotes  at  least  some  apprehension  on 
his  part  of  the  possibility  of  his  encountering  a  mortal 
hurt  in  the  approaching  combat. 

Brief  but  brilliant  was  the  career  of  Button  Gwin- 
nett.  Rising  like  a  meteor,  he  shot  athwart  the  zenith 
of  the  young  commonwealth,  concentrating  the  gaze 
of  all,  and,  in  a  short  moment,  was  seen  no  more. 
Within  the  compass  of  a  very  few  years  are  his  brilliant 
aspirations,  triumphs,  and  reverses  compressed.  With 
out  the  accident  of  birth  or  the  assistance  of  fortune, 
he  was  advanced,  and  that  most  rapidly,  to  the  highest 
positions  within  the  gift  of  his  countrymen.  Insepa 
rably  associated  is  his  name  with  the  charter  of  Amer 
ican  independence.  Of  his  intelligence,  force  of  char 
acter,  ability  to  command  success,  courage,  indomitable 
will,  tenacity  of  purpose,  patriotism,  love  of  liberty,  and 
devotion  to  the  cause  of  American  freedom,  he  gave 
proof  most  abundant.  But  he  was  ambitious,  covetous 
of  power,  strong  in  his  prejudices,  intolerant  of  opposi 
tion,  and  violent  in  his  hate. 

Of  this  signer  we  believe  no  well-authenticated  por 
trait  exists.  His  name  dignifies  a  county  in  Georgia, 
but  we  know  of  none  among  the  living  in  this  State  in 
whose  veins  courses  a  drop  of  blood  inherited  from,  or 
kindred  with,  that  of  Button  Gwinnett. 


JOHN  HABERSHAM. 

THIS  gentleman  —  the  third  son  of  the  Honorable 
James  Habersham  and  Mary  Bolton  —  was  born  on 
the  23d  of  December,  1754,  at  Beverley,  the  country 
seat  of  his  father,  about  nine  miles  from  Savannah, 
Georgia.  He  was  baptized  by  the  Reverend  Bartholo 
mew  Zouberbuhler,  the  rector  and  incumbent  of  Christ 
Church  in  that  city.  His  preparatory  studies  having 
been  completed  at  home,  he  matriculated  at  Princeton 
College,  New  Jersey.  From  this  institution  he  gradu 
ated  with  distinction. 

Scarcely  had  he  attained  unto  manhood  when  he 
identified  himself  with  the  Revolutionists,  and  was  soon 
numbered  among  the  most  zealous  advocates  of  Amer 
ican  independence. 

On  the  7th  of  January,  1776,  he  was  mustered  into 
continental  service  as  the  first  lieutenant  of  the  first 
company  of  the  battalion  raised  at  the  charge  of  the 
United  Colonies  for  the  protection  of  Georgia.  Of  this 
command  his  brother  Joseph  was  commissioned  Major. 
With  three  hundred  men  of  that  battalion  he  was  pres 
ent  when  Colonel  Lachlan  Mclntosh,  from  the  hastily 
constructed  works  upon  Yamacraw  Bluff,  armed  with 
three  four-pounder  iron  field-pieces,  opened  fire  upon 
the  British  troops  led  by  Maitland  and  Grant,  who 
were  seeking  to  capture  and  take  to  sea  the  rice-laden 
vessels  congregated  at  the  wharves  and  along  the  op 
posite  shore  of  the  Savannah  River. 


JOHN  HABERSHAM.  69 

He  was  shortly  afterwards  announced  as  Brigade- 
Major  of  the  Georgia  forces  upon  the  Continental  estab 
lishment,  of  which  Lachlan  Mclntosh  was  the  ranking 
officer  and  Samuel  Elbert  the  second  in  command.  In 
this  capacity  he  accompanied  the  expeditions  planned, 
and  launched  in  succession  by  General  Charles  Lee, 
by  President  Button  Gwinnett,  and  by  General  Robert 
Howe  and  Governor  John  Houstoun,  for  the  reduc 
tion  of  St.  Augustine  and  the  subjugation  of  Florida. 
At  Fort  Tonyn,  where  marked  dissensions  arose  be 
tween  General  Robert  Howe  commanding  the  Conti 
nental  troops,  Governor  Houstoun  controlling  the 
Georgia  militia,  and  Commodore  Oliver  Bowen  con 
ducting  the  supporting  fleet,  Major  Habersham  was  a 
member  of  the  council  of  war  which,  in  view  of  the 
distractions  existent  in  the  American  camp,  because  of 
the  sickness  prevailing  in  the  army,  and  in  considera 
tion  of  the  intervening  obstacles,  resolved  it  was  im 
prudent  to  advance  further  and  attempt  the  passage 
of  the  river  St.  John.  These  expeditions  were  char 
acterized  by  lack  of  preparation,  mismanagement,  dis 
agreement  between  commanders,  surprising  mistakes, 
vexatious  delays,  and  fruitless  expenditures  of  men 
and  munitions.  Upon  the  return  of  the  Georgia  Con 
tinental  troops  from  Fort  Tonyn,  Colonel  John  Mcln 
tosh,  with  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  men,  was 
posted  at  Sunbury.  General  Howe  repaired  to  Charles 
ton,  South  Carolina,  and  the  regiments  of  Colonels  El 
bert  and  White  were  sent  to  Savannah. 

An  anticipated  season  of  rest  and  comparative  inac 
tion  was  speedily  interrupted  by  the  unexpected  ad 
vance  from  Florida  of  two  columns,  led  respectively 
by  Colonels  Fuser  and  Prevost,  —  the  one  moving  by 


70  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

land  and  the  other  transported  by  water,  —  both  hav 
ing  as  their  objective  the  capture  of  the  town  of  Sun- 
bury,  and,  in  the  end,  the  investment  of  Savannah. 

While  Lieutenant-Colonel  Mark  Prevost's  progress 
was  being  sharply  contested  by  Colonels  Baker  and 
White  and  by  General  Screven,  Colonel  Elbert,  with 
his  command,  took  post  at  Ogeechee  ferry  and  forti 
fied  that  crossing,  intending  there  to  deliver  battle  if 
the  English  commander  succeeded  in  penetrating  to 
that  point.  The  failure  of  Colonel  Fuser  to  effect  a 
junction  at  Sunbury  on  the  expected  day,  and  the 
stout  resistance  offered,  induced  Colonel  Prevost  to  re 
trace  his  steps.  Treating  the  population  as  in  open 
rebellion  against  a  lawful  sovereign,  and  utterly  ignor 
ing  all  rights  of  the  invaded,  that  officer,  upon  his  re 
treat,  burnt  Midway  Meeting-House,  and  all  dwellings, 
negro  quarters,  rice-barns,  and  improvements  within 
his  reach.  The  entire  region  was  ruthlessly  plundered. 
The  track  of  the  retiring  column  was  marked  by  smok 
ing  ruins.  British  soldiers  and  Tories,  unrestrained, 
indulged  in  indiscriminate  pillage,  appropriating  plate, 
bedding,  wearing  apparel,  and  everything  capable  of 
easy  transportation.  The  inhabitants,  particularly  of 
St.  John's  Parish,  were  subjected  to  indignities,  and 
were,  in  many  instances,  reduced  to  absolute  want. 

Acting  under  a  commission  from  Colonel  Elbert, 
Major  Habersharn  held  an  interview  with  Prevost,  in 
which  certain  stipulations  designed  to  protect  the  in 
vaded  territory  from  pillage  and  conflagration  were 
proposed.  The  English  commander,  however,  declined 
to  give  any  guaranty  in  the  premises,  and  insisted  that 
inasmuch  as  the  inhabitants  were  rebels  against  the 
Crown  they  must  abide  all  consequences,  how  grievous 
soever  they  might  be. 


JOHN   HABERSHAM.  71 

After  the  affair  near  Midway  Meeting  -  House,  in 
which  General  Screven  was  severely  wounded,  Major 
Habersham  bore  a  flag  to  Colonel  Prevost,  requesting, 
in  the  name  of  Colonel  Elbert,  permission  to  furnish 
the  captured  general  with  such  medical  aid  as  his 
dangerous  situation  demanded.  In  response,  Doctors 
Braidie  and  Alexander  were  permitted  to  attend  upon 
him;  but  they  found,  upon  examination,  that  his  wounds 
were  mortal,  and  that  their  surgical  skill  was  impotent 
to  prolong  his  valuable  life. 

During  the  successful  assault  by  Colonel  Campbell 
upon  the  American  forces  under  General  Howe,  posted 
to  the  east  and  south  of  Savannah  for  its  protection, 
on  the  29th  of  December,  1778,  Major  Habersham, 
still  acting  as  Brigade-Major  to  Colonel  Elbert  who 
held  the  left  of  the  line,  is  said,  by  Captain  Alexander 
Wylly,  to  have  been  entrusted  with  the  service  of  a 
part  of  the  rebel  artillery.  Finding  it  impossible,  in 
the  face  of  the  impetuous  charge  of  the  enemy,  to 
withdraw  his  field-pieces,  and,  at  the  supreme  moment, 
ordering  his  cannoneers  to  save  themselves,  he  refused 
to  quit  his  guns  until  they  were  completely  enveloped 
by  the  foe.  The  story  runs  that,  perceiving  personal 
capture  inevitable,  he  deliberately  broke  his  seal  upon 
one  of  the  cannon  to  prevent  its  passing  into  the  own 
ership  of  his  captors. 

When  the  retreat  was  sounded  a  panic  ensued,  and 
the  Americans  made  their  way,  as  best  they  could 
and  in  a  confused  manner,  through  the  town.  Before 
the  retiring  army  gained  the  head  of  the  causeway 
traversing  Musgrove's  swamp  west  of  Savannah,  —  the 
only  pass  by  which  the  retrograde  movement  could  be 
accomplished,  —  the  enemy  secured  a  position  so  as  to 


72  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

interrupt  the  crossing.  By  heroic  exertions  Colonel 
Eoberts  kept  the  British  at  bay  until  the  American 
centre  effected  its  escape.  The  rebel  right  wing,  being 
between  two  fires,  suffered  severely  and  was  well-nigh 
annihilated  by  wounds,  death,  and  capture.  The  left, 
under  the  command  of  Colonel  Elbert,  —  who  always 
fought  to  the  last,  —  continued  the  conflict  with  such 
gallantry  and  pertinacity  that  escape  by  the  cause 
way  became  impracticable.  That  officer  was  therefore 
compelled  to  lead  his  troops,  after  forcing  their  way 
through  the  town,  through  the  rice-fields  lying  be 
tween  the  causeway  and  the  Savannah  Kiver.  In 
doing  so  he  encountered  a  damaging  fire  from  the 
enemy,  who,  pressing  forward,  had  taken  possession  of 
the  eastern  end.  of  the  causway  and  of  the  adjacent 
high  grounds  of  Ewensburg.  Beaching  Musgrove 
Creek,  he  found  it  filled  with  water,  for  the  tide  was 
high.  Consequently  only  those  of  his  command  who 
could  swim  succeeded  in  crossing,  and  this  they  did 
with  the  loss  of  their  arms  and  accoutrements.  All 
others  were  either  drowned  or  captured.  Among  the 
latter  was  Major  Habersham.  Colonel  George  Wal 
ton,  badly  wounded,  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy. 

In  this  disastrous  and  sadly  conducted  affair  the 
Americans  lost  eighty -three  killed  and  wounded. 
Thirty -eight  officers  and  four  hundred  and  fifteen 
non-commissioned  officers  and  privates  were  made  cap 
tive.  Forty-eight  pieces  of  cannon,  twenty-three  mor 
tars,  a  considerable  quantity  of  small  arms  and  ammu 
nition,  a  fort,  the  shipping  in  port,  and,  above  all,  the 
capital  of  Georgia,  were  among  the  substantial  trophies 
of  this  victory.  Upon  the  fall  of  Savannah,  Southern 


JOHN   HABERSHAM.  73 

Georgia  quickly  passed  under  the  dominion  of  the 
king's  forces.  Rapidly  advancing,  Colonel  Campbell 
pushed  his  exultant  column  as  far  as  Augusta,  and 
even  beyond. 

The  next  occasion  upon  which  Major  Habersham, 
whose  detention  by  the  enemy  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  of  long  duration,  was  brought  face  to  face 
with  the  British  was  in  the  battle  of  Brier  Creek,  when 
General  Ash  was  surprised  and  defeated  by  Colonel 
Prevost. 

We  may  not  here  revive  the  memories  of  an  en 
gagement  which  reflected  so  severely  upon  the  repu 
tation  of  an  American  general  and  inflicted  such  loss 
upon  rebel  arms.  It  is  proper  to  state,  however,  that 
the  only  ray  of  light  amid  the  gloom  of  the  whole 
affair  was  shed  by  the  gallantry  of  Colonel  Elbert  and 
his  command.  That  officer,  assisted  by  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  John  Mclritosh  and  Major  John  Habersham, 
with  sixty  continental  troops,  one  hundred  and  fifty 
Georgia  militia,  and  a  field-piece,  held  the  left  of  the 
line  of  battle.  Although  the  right  and  centre  quickly 
broke  and  fled  in  wild  confusion,  he  prolonged  the  con 
flict  until  nearly  every  member  of  his  force  was  either 
killed,  wounded,  or  captured.  If  we  are  correctly  in 
formed,  Major  Habersham  was  here,  a  second  time, 
made  prisoner.  He  was  exchanged,  however,  in  sea 
son  to  participate  in  the  siege  of  Savannah  in  Septem 
ber  and  October,  1779,  which  culminated  in  the  ill- 
advised,  bloody,  and  futile  assault  by  the  allied  army 
under  Count  D'Estaing  and  General  Lincoln  upon  the 
British  lines. 

The  depressing  effect  upon  the  king's  forces  in 
America  produced  by  the  surrender  of  Lord  Cornwallis 


74  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

at  Yorktown,  the  junction  of  the  auxiliary  troops  un 
der  General  St.  Glair,  and  the  recent  successes  of  Gen 
eral  Greene  in  the  Carolinas  enabled  that  officer,  in 
January,  1782,  to  redeem  his  promise  for  the  relief  of 
Georgia.  General  Wayne  was  detached  for  that  pur 
pose.  "  To  reinstate,  as  far  as  might  be  possible,  the 
authority  of  the  Union  within  the  limits  of  Georgia  " 
was  the  mission  of  the  hero  of  Stony  Point. 

Ever  since  Savannah,  in  December,  1778,  passed 
into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  it  had  become  a  favorite 
resort  of  the  Creeks  and  Cherokees.  There  were  depu 
tations  from  the  Indian  nations  entertained.  There 
were  royal  presents  distributed,  and  there  were  con 
cocted  schemes  for  the  annoyance  of  the  republicans. 
Aware  of  his  acquaintance  writh,  and  conscious  of  the 
influence  he  was  capable  of  exerting  over  the  natives, 
knowing  that  parties  of  Indians  still  visited  that  town, 
and  desirous  of  either  winning  them  over  to  the  Amer 
ican  cause  or  of  inducing  them  to  remain  neutral  in 
the  pending  struggle,  General  Wayne  dispatched  Major 
Habersham  to  intercept  and  conciliate  them.  He  was 
attended  by  Major  Francis  Moore,  in  command  of  some 
South  Carolina  cavalry,  and  by  Captain  Patrick  Carr, 
who  led  a  body  of  mounted  militia.  At  first  Major 
Habersham  was  successful  in  his  negotiations.  His 
plans  were  subsequently  frustrated  by  reason  of  the 
indiscretion  and  disobedience  of  a  lieutenant  who,  with 
a  portion  of  the  mounted  militia,  slew  several  of  the 
Indians  present,  and  then,  making  a  rapid  descent 
upon  Sunbury,  killed  eleven  loyalists,  residents  of  that 
town.  Matters  were  further  complicated  by  the  con 
duct  of  Major  Moore,  who,  learning  that  the  Creek 
Indians  had  stolen  some  horses  on  the  frontier  of  Lib- 


JOHN  HABERSHAM.  75 

erty  County,  insisted  upon  going  in  pursuit  of  them. 
These  and  similar  transactions  defeated  Habersham's 
mission,  which  otherwise  might  have  resulted  in  ac 
complishing  much  good. 

So  closely  was  Savannah  now  invested  by  the  forces 
under  General  Wayne,  and  so  desperate  grew  the  situa 
tion  of  the  king's  soldiers  in  Georgia,  that  on  the  23d 
of  May,  1782,  Sir  Guy  Carleton  issued,  at  New  York, 
an  order  for  the  evacuation  both  of  that  town  and 
province.  The  authorities  were  notified  that  trans 
ports  would  be  provided  for  conveying  away  not  only 
the  troops  and  military  stores,  but  also  Governor 
Wright  and  all  adherents  of  the  Crown  who  might 
desire  to  depart.  Although  not  unanticipated,  this  an 
nouncement  created  a  profound  impression  alike  upon 
soldiers  and  civilians  within  the  royal  lines.  The  lat 
ter  were  most  anxious  to  ascertain  what  their  status 
would  be  under  the  changed  condition  of  affairs,  and 
to  secure  from  the  republican  authorities  pledges  that 
they  would  not  be  molested  either  in  person  or  prop 
erty.  Negotiations  were  accordingly  opened,  and  to 
Major  John  Habersham  —  an  officer  in  the  Georgia 
line,  a  native  of  Savannah,  a  gentleman  whose  per 
sonal  character  inspired  confidence,  and  whose  high- 
toned  sentiment,  correct  conduct,  and  polished  address 
commanded  the  thorough  confidence  and  respect  even 
of  those  who  were  inimical  to  the  cause  which  he 
espoused  —  were  they  confided  on  the  part  of  the  pa 
triots.  That  they  were  conducted  by  him  in  all  fair 
ness  and  with  becoming  dignity,  intelligence,  and  fidel 
ity,  it  seems  scarcely  necessary  to  add. 

Savannah  having  been  occupied  by  General  Wayne 
on  the  llth  of  July,  1782,  before  setting  out  to  rejoin 


76  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

General  Greene,  he  detailed  Lieutenant-Colonel  James 
Jackson  with  his  legion,  and  Major  Habersham  with 
his  corps  of  new  recruits,  to  take  charge  of  that  town 
and  vicinage  until  civil  government  should  be  regu 
larly  established.  So  far  as  Georgia  was  concerned,  the 
war  was  practically  ended.  Following  close  upon  the 
heels  of  the  military  came  the  members  of  the  Execu 
tive  Council.  The  Legislature  quickly  convened,  and 
entered  upon  the  passage  of  such  laws  as  were  de 
manded  by  the  emergency  and  were  deemed  most  con 
ducive  to  the  general  good. 

By  the  disqualifying  act  of  July  6,  1780,  passed  at 
Savannah  by  the  Royalist  Assembly,  Major  Haber 
sham,  in  association  with  other  prominent  members 
of  the  republican  party  in  Georgia,  had  been  declared 
incapable  of  holding  or  exercising  any  office  of  trust, 
honor,  or  profit.  Upon  the  termination  of  English  rule 
in  Georgia  this  legislation  became  utterly  void,  and 
the  penalties  prescribed  were  subsequently  reckoned 
as  tributes  to  the  worth  and  patriotism  of  those  upon 
whom  they  were  sought  to  be  inflicted. 

As  a  proof  of  the  public  esteem  in  which  he  was 
held  he  was,  in  1784,  elected  president  of  the  Execu 
tive  Council.  In  that  capacity  he  opened  the  Land 
Court  in  Augusta. 

During  the  years  1785  and  1786  he  was  a  member, 
from  Georgia,  of  the  Continental  Congress.  In  Octo 
ber,  1786,  as  the  chairman  of  the  Commissioners  ap 
pointed  for  that  purpose  by  the  State  of  Georgia,  he 
held,  at  Shoulder-Bone  Creek,  in  Hancock  County,  a 
congress  at  which  fifty-nine  chiefs,  head-men,  and  war 
riors  of  the  Creek  nation  were  present.  The  delibera 
tions  of  that  convention  resulted  in  the  conclusion  of 


JOHN   HABERSHAM.  77 

a  treaty,  which  was  signed  on  the  3d  of  the  following 
November,  stipulating  for  the  peaceful  conduct  of  the 
Indians,  and  confirming  the  boundary  lines  as  agreed 
upon  in  the  former  treaties  solemnized  at  Augusta  and 
Galphinton. 

Another  important  service  rendered  by  Major  Hab- 
ersham  was  that  performed  by  him,  as  one  of  the  Com 
missioners  from  Georgia,  in  accommodating  at  Beaufort, 
South  Carolina,  in  April,  1787,  all  differences  touching 
the  boundary  line  between  those  States.  The  agree 
ment  then  reached  was  reduced  to  the  form  of  a  treaty, 
which  was  subsequently  ratified  by  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States  and  also  by  the  General  Assembly  of 
Georgia.  By  the  action  of  this  convention  a  dispute 
between  sister  States,  which  promised  to  be  a  source 
of  continued  irritation,  was  amicably  and  satisfactorily 
adjusted. 

It  was  a  tribute  to  his  reputation  as  a  gentleman  of 
liberal  views  and  of  education  when,  under  the  pro 
visions  of  the  Act  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
27th  of  January,  1785,  he  was  constituted  a  member 
of  the  first  Board  of  Trustees  to  establish  the  Univer 
sity  of  Georgia,  and  "  advance  the  interests  of  litera 
ture  through  the  State." 

In  1789  he  was  nominated  and  confirmed  as  the  col 
lector  of  the  port  of  Savannah.  This  office  he  con 
tinued  to  hold  until  his  death,  which  occurred  ten 
years  afterwards.  He  was  summoned  hence  in  the 
zenith  of  his  usefulness,  in  the  full  possession  of  all  his 
faculties,  and  at  the  early  age  of  forty-five.  Lanman 
fixes  the  date  of  his  demise  as  the  19th  of  November, 
1799.  The  writer  is  assured  by  his  granddaughter  — 
Mrs.  William  Neyle  Habershara  —  that  he  breathed 


78  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

his  last  in  the  city  of  Savannah  on  the  17th  of  Decem 
ber,  1799,  just  three  days  after  the  lamented  demise 
of  General  George  Washington,  and  while  the  land 
was  filled  with  mourning  at  the  sudden  departure  of 
the  Pater  Patrice. 

Major  Habersham  was  in  all  respects  an  estimable 
man,  fearless,  honest,  patriotic,  public-spirited,  and,  in 
his  domestic  relations,  tender  and  true.  He  was  the 
friend  of  the  widow  and  orphan ;  and,  as  adviser  and 
guardian,  in  many  instances  rendered  gratuitous  and 
most  acceptable  service.  In  his  official  acts,  and  in  the 
execution  of  the  responsible  trusts  confided  to  him,  he 
was  upright  and  efficient.  As  an  officer  of  the  Conti 
nental  army  he  was  prompt,  courageous,  and  self-sacri 
ficing.  To  the  cause  of  the  Revolutionists,  even  in  its 
infancy,  was  his  cordial  allegiance  given,  and  he  never 
swerved  from  its  support  until  the  independence  of 
the  United  Colonies  was  fully  established.  Upon  the 
organization  of  the  Georgia  branch  of  the  Society  of 
the  Order  of  the  Cincinnati,  he  was  complimented  with 
the  position  of  its  first  secretary. 

The  influence  which  he  exerted  over  the  Creek  and 
Cherokee  Indians  is  said  to  have  been  widespread  and 
salutary.  If  we  are  correctly  informed,  General  Wash 
ington,  while  President  of  the  United  States,  secured 
his  good  offices  as  Indian  agent  for  a  portion  of  the 
Southern  Department.  Upon  closing  his  accounts  with 
the  general  government,  a  balance  arose  in  Major 
Habersharn's  favor  which  remains  unpaid  to  the  present 
day. 

The  following  anecdote  is  told  by  a  member  of  his 
family.  On  one  occasion  he  entertained,  in  Savannah, 
several  Indian  chiefs.  The  leading  mico  of  the  delega- 


JOHN  HABERSHAM.  79 

tion  was  "Mad  Dog."  Upon  seating  himself  at  the 
table,  this  chief  plunged  his  knife  into  the  joint  of  beef 
which  was  before  him,  and  drew  it  into  his  plate.  It 
constituted  the  piece  de  resistance  of  the  feast.  When 
informed  by  his  host  that  it  was  subject  to  partition 
among  his  companions,  the  hungry  savage  reluctantly 
restored  it  to  the  dish,  and  sulked  until  the  meal  was 
concluded.  A  suit  of  clothes,  however,  presented  by 
the  Major,  restored  his  equanimity  and  confirmed  his 
friendship. 

The  old  cemetery  on  South  Broad  Street  in  Savan 
nah,  wherein  sleep  so  many  who  were  famous  and 
loved  in  the  early  days  of  the  colony  and  common 
wealth,  guards  the  dust  of  this  distinguished  Georgian ; 
and  a  beautiful  county  in  the  upper  portion  of  the 
State  perpetuates  a  family  name  which  for  nearly  a 
century  and  a  half  has  been  here  saluted  with  grati 
tude  and  honor. 


JOSEPH  HABERSHAM. 

HE  was  the  second  son  of  the  Honorable  James  Hab- 
ersham  —  a  native  of  Yorkshire,  England  —  and  of 
Mary  Bolton,  and  was  born  in  Savannah,  Georgia,  on 
the  28th  of  July,  1751. 

Among  the  worthies  who  during  the  colonial  period 
ministered  to  the  intellectual,  moral,  political,  and  ma 
terial  development  of  Georgia,  no  one  is  more  grate 
fully  remembered  than  the  Honorable  James  Haber- 
sham.  The  purity  of  his  character,  the  nobility  of  his 
aims  and  impulses,  the  utility  of  his  acts,  and  the 
influence  of  his  virtuous  life  were  at  the  time,  and  have 
ever  since  been  recognized  and  admired. 

From  the  date  of  his  arrival  in  Savannah  early  in 
1738  in  company  with  his  friend  the  Reverend  George 
Whitefield,  the  famous  evangelist  and  noted  philanthro 
pist,  until  his  demise  in  1775,  he  was  prominently 
identified  with  every  movement  which  contemplated 
the  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  the  Colonists  and 
the  promotion  of  the  welfare  of  the  Province.  He  is 
specially  remembered  in  connection  with  the  founda 
tion,  the  control,  and  the  sustentation  of  the  Orphan 
House  at  Bethesda;  as  a  most  intelligent  instructor 
and  guide  of  youths ;  as  the  organizer  of  the  earliest 
Sunday-schools ;  as  a  capable  and  earnest  catechist ;  as 
a  valued  correspondent  of  the  home  authorities,  keep 
ing  them  advised  of  the  progress  of  affairs,  and  furnish 
ing  apt  suggestions  with  regard  to  the  administration 


JOSEPH   HABERSHAM.  81 

of  the  Trust ;  as  instrumental  in  procuring  a  rescission 
of  the  regulation  prohibiting  the  introduction  of  slave 
labor  into  Georgia ;  as  a  kind  and  thoughtful  master, 
providing  for  the  temporal  wants  and  the  spiritual 
edification  of  his  numerous  servants  ;  as  the  founder  of 
the  earliest  mercantile  house  in  Savannah,  enjoying 
high  credit  both  at  home  and  abroad,  and  possessing 
commercial  relations  with  Philadelphia,  New  York, 
Boston,  the  West  Indies,  and  England ;  as  the  efficient 
secretary  of  the  Colony ;  as  an  energetic  commissioner 
of  silk-culture ;  as  an  assistant  to  Mr.  Graham,  presi 
dent  of  the  Province  upon  the  surrender,  by  the  Trus 
tees,  of  its  management,  and  prior  to  the  erection  of 
the  royal  government;  subsequently,  as  secretary  and 
registrar ;  and,  finally,  as  the  governor  pro  tempore  of 
Georgia  during  the  absence  of  Sir  James  Wright. 

For  this  responsible  position  his  education,  his  per 
sonal  acquaintance  with  the  inhabitants,  his  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  history,  development,  and  wants  of 
the  Colony,  his  long  experience  in  the  conduct  of  its 
public  and  domestic  affairs,  the  purity  of  his  character, 
and  the  high  esteem  in  which  he  was  held,  admirably 
qualified  him.  He  was  the  firm  friend  of  law,  order, 
the  Established  Church,  and  of  the  British  Constitution. 
Loyal  to  his  king,  his  affiliations  were  with  those  who 
obeyed  the  acts  of  Parliament,  observed  the  orders  of 
the  Lords  Commissioners  of  Trade  and  Plantations,  and 
maintained  their  allegiance  to  the  throne  of  England. 
In  this  mind  he  lived  and  died.  He  closed  his  eyes 
just  as  the  storm  of  the  primal  Re  volution  began  to 
overshadow  the  land.  While  his  sons  espoused  the 
"patriot  cause,"  their  honored  father  kept  faith  with 
his  king ;  and,  in  departing,  lamented  the  division  of 
6 


82  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

political  sentiment  which  was  engendering  fratricidal 
strife  and  betokening  a  bloody  and  relentless  war. 

It  excites  no  surprise  that  the  elder,  the  wealthier, 
and  the  more  influential  citizens  of  Georgia  should,  in 
the  main,  at  this  epoch,  have  tenaciously  clung  to  the 
fortunes  of  the  Crown  and  sincerely  deprecated  all  idea 
of  a  separation  from  the  mother  country.  To  such  a 
course  were  they  prompted  by  natural  allegiance,  by 
tradition,  and  by  the  strongest  ties.  Besides  all  this,  of 
the  American  colonies  Georgia  had  subsisted  most  gen 
erously  upon  royal  bounty,  and  had  been  the  recipient  of 
favors  far  beyond  those  accorded  to  sister  plantations. 
The  younger  members  of  the  leading  families,  however, 
in  many  instances,  sympathized  with  the  revolutionists, 
and  thus  division  arose  even  within  the  household. 
While  James  Habersham,  Noble  Jones,  the  elder  Hous- 
toun,  the  elder  Tattnall,  and  others  enjoying  distinc 
tion  in  the  annals  of  the  Colony,  avowed  and  main 
tained  to  the  last  their  devotion  to  the  realm,  their 
sons  were  found  among  the  earliest  and  the  most  potent 
advocates  of  a  speedy  and  radical  separation  from  the 
parent  nation.1 

1  In  an  old  Family  Bible  of  the  Habersham  family  appears  the  following 
entry :  "  James  Habersham,  the  most  respected  and  lamented  Parent  of 
the  persons  whose  births  and  deaths  are  recorded  in  this  Sacred  Book, 
was  born  at  Beverley,  Yorkshire,  England,  in  the  year  1712,  and  died  at 
Brunswick,  New  Jersey,  28th  August,  1775,  aged  63  years.  His  corpse, 
attended  by  two  of  his  sons  who  were  with  him  at  the  time  of  his  decease, 
was  carried  to  New  York  and  interred  in  a  vault  of  Trinity  Church,  pre 
paratory  to  its  removal  to  Savannah,  —  the  funeral  service  being  performed 
by  the  Rector  of  that  church. 

"  On  the  14th  of  November  [following]  the  corpse  was  landed  from  the 
Sloop  Hope,  —  Captain  Andrew  Brown,  —  and  deposited  in  the  family 
vault  in  our  Cemetery  [on  South  Broad  Street,  in  Savannah,  Georgia]. 

"  He  was  among  the  early  and  most  useful  settlers  of  the  Province  of 
Georgia,  and  discharged  some  of  the  most  honorable  trusts  under  the 


JOSEPH   HABERSHAM.  83 

After  a  preparatory  course  of  study  pursued  in  the 
best  schools  in  Savannah,  Joseph  Habersham  repaired 
to  Princeton  College,  then  under  the  presidency  of  the 
famous  Doctor  Witherspoon,  and  there  completed  his 
collegiate  education.  While  at  college  he  exhibited 
that  quick,  ardent  temper,  that  brave  and  chivalrous 
spirit,  and  that  independence  of  thought  and  action? 
which  so  signally  characterized  him  in  after  life.  Re 
turning  home  he  at  once  and  unhesitatingly  avowed  his 
sympathies  with  the  "Liberty  Boys,"  and  was  by  them 
accorded  position  replete  alike  with  responsibility,  with 
honor,  and  with  danger. 

In  association  with  Dr.  Noble  Wymberley  Jones, 
Edward  Telfair,  William  Gibbons,  Joseph  Clay,  John 
Milledge,  and  a  few  others,  —  most  of  them  members 
of  the  Council  of  Safety,  and  all  zealous  in  the  cause  of 
American  liberty,  —  at  a  late  hour  on  the  night  of  the 
llth  of  May,  1775,  he  broke  open  the  king's  magazine 
in  Savannah,  and  removed  therefrom  some  six  hundred 
pounds  of  gunpowder ;  a  portion  of  which,  if  we  may 
credit  a  well-approved  tradition,  was  forwarded  to  Cam 
bridge,  Massachusetts,  and  issued  to  the  rebel  army. 

As  a  member  of  the  Council  of  Safety,  he  corre 
sponded  with  the  Continental  Congress  and  with  other 
patriotic  bodies,  and  was  instant  in  devising  measures 
for  the  defense  of  Georgia  and  the  enkindling  of  a  war 
like  flame  within  her  borders. 

In  July,  1775,  under  the  joint  leadership  of  Joseph 
Habersham  and  Captain  Bo  wen,  a  detachment  of  picked 

Royal  Government  with  such  unsullied  Integrity,  Loyalty,  and  Independ 
ence,  as  to  acquire  for  him  the  esteem  and  respect  of  the  wise  and  the 
good  of  our  Community. 

"  He  was  a  sincere  Believer  in  the  Christian  Religion,  and  lived  up  to 
its  precepts  as  far  as  the  infirmities  of  our  Nature  would  allow." 


84  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

men,  conveyed  in  a  Georgia  armed  schooner1  commis 
sioned  by  Congress,  effected,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Savannah  River,  the  capture  of  Captain  Maitland's  ship 
direct  from  London  and  freighted  with  gunpowder  and 
other  military  stores.  At  the  earnest  solicitation  of  the 
Continental  Congress,  five  thousand  pounds  of  this  pow 
der  were  forwarded  to  Philadelphia,  where  they  were 
issued  to  the  armies  of  the  United  Colonies.  From  the 
same  source  were  the  magazines  of  Georgia  and  South 
Carolina  supplied. 

Of  the  Provincial  Congress,  which  convened  in  Sa 
vannah  on  the  4th  of  July,  1775,  and  placed  the  Prov 
ince  of  Georgia  "  on  the  same  footing  with  her  sister 
colonies,"  he  was  a  leading  member;  and  on  the  7th  of 
January  in  the  following  year  he  was  appointed  major 
of  the  battalion  raised  for  the  protection  of  Georgia,  of 
which  Lachlan  Mclntosh  was  made  colonel,  and  Samuel 
Elbert  lieutenant-colonel.  Subsequently,  he  rose  to 
the  rank  of  colonel  in  the  Continental  army. 

When  the  Council  of  Safety  resolved  upon  the  arrest 
and  confinement  of  Sir  James  Wright,  the  royal  gover 
nor,  so  that  there  might  be  no  longer  any  show  of  Eng 
lish  dominion  within  the  limits  of  the  province,  Major 
Habersham  volunteered  for  and  successfully  performed 
the  service.  Governor  Wright  was  arrested  in  his  res 
idence,  which  occupied  the  lot  at  a  later  date  graced  by 
the  home  of  Governor  Telfair.  Through  the  muni 
ficence  of  his  daughters,  this  Telfair  mansion  has  been 
converted  into  an  academy  of  arts  and  sciences. 

The  bravery  of  the  act  cannot  be  too  highly  com- 

1  This  schooner,  armed  with  "  ten  carriage  guns  and  many  swivels,"  and 
carrying  a  complement  of  fifty  men,  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  provincial 
vessel  commissioned  for  naval  warfare  in  the  Revolution;  and  this  the  first 
capture  made  by  order  of  any  Congress  in  America. 


JOSEPH   HABERSHAM.  85 

mended ;  and  the  physical  courage  displayed  was  tran 
scended  by  the  moral  heroism  involved  in  thus  openly 
defying  the  power  of  the  Realm,  and  in  humbling  the 
duly  constituted  representative  of  the  Crown  in  the 
presence  of  the  Colony  he  was  commissioned  to  rule. 
The  effect  was  startling,  —  dramatic. 

In  frustrating  the  attempt  of  Captain  Barclay  and 
Major  Grant  to  capture  the  shipping  lying  in  the  port 
of  Savannah,  during  the  memorable  siege  of  Savannah 
in  September  and  October,  1779,  and  on  various  occa 
sions  during  the  progress  of  the  War  of  the  Revolution, 
Colonel  Habersham  rendered  gallant  and  important 
service. 

The  struggle  ended,  he  was  twice  honored  by  an 
election  to  the  Speaker's  chair  in  the  General  Assembly 
of  his  native  State.  From  1785  to  1786  he  was  a  del 
egate  to  the  Continental  Congress,  and  in  1788  was  a 
member  of  the  convention  which  ratified  the  Federal 
Constitution.  In  1792  he  was  mayor  of  the  city  of 
Savannah.  The  year  previous  he  was  one  of  the  com 
mittee  which  complimented  President  Washington  with 
an  address  of  welcome  upon  the  occasion  of  his  visit  to 
Savannah. 

By  President  Washington  was  he  appointed,  in  1795, 
Postmaster-General  of  the  United  States.  This  posi 
tion  he  filled  with  entire  acceptability  also  during  the 
presidential  term  of  the  elder  Adams.  Upon  the  acces 
sion  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  he  was  the  recipient  of  a  polite 
note  conveying  a  tender  of  the  office  of  Treasurer  of 
the  United  States.  Interpreting  this  as  an  intimation 
that  his  resignation  of  the  position  of  Postmaster- 
General  would  be  agreeable  to  the  newly  elected  Pres- 


86  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

ident,  he  promptly  surrendered  his  portfolio '  and 
returned  to  Savannah,  where,  entering  upon  a  mercan 
tile  life,  he  essayed  to  repair  a  fortune  which  had  been 
seriously  dissipated  by  the  calamities  of  war.2  In  1802 
he  became  the  president  of  the  Branch  Bank  of  the 
United  States  at  Savannah.  This  office  he  retained 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  on  the  17th  of  Novem 
ber,  1815. 

The  commercial  house  of  Harris  &  Habersham,  or 
ganized  by  his  father  in  1749,  was,  after  the  lapse  of 
many  years,  practically  revived  by  Colonel  Habersham. 
To  the  present  day  it  has  been  perpetuated  by  mem 
bers  of  the  Habersham  family,  and  at  all  times  with 
marked  probity,  influence,  and  success. 

"  We  have  said,"  remarks  another,  "  that  Colonel 
Habersham  was  quick  and  ardent  in  temper ;  but, 

1  It  is  believed  that  in  this  removal  of  Colonel  Habersham  —  indirectly 
and  delicately  compassed  as  it  was  by  Mr.  Jefferson  —  occurred  one  of  the 
earliest  illustrations  of  the  application  of  the  doctrine,  "  to  the  victors  be 
long  the  spoils."    His  selection  by  General  Washington  to  fill  the  office  of 
Postmaster-General  of   the  United  States  was  wholly  unsolicited  on  his 
part,  and  must  be  regarded  as  a  special  tribute  to  the  character  and  ability 
of  Colonel  Habersham.     "  At  a  period   when  so  many,  from  great  and 
devoted  service  to  the  country,  had  claims  to  office,  and  these  claims  well 
known  and  appreciated,  and  when  the  selection  was  made  by  Washington, 
this  appointment  was  the  best  evidence  of  his  great  merit  and  of  the  gen 
eral  estimation  in  which  he  was  held.     In  this  office,  as  has  been  already 
stated,  he  continued  until  the  accession  of  Mr.  Jefferson  to  the  presidency. 
But  he  retained  the  office  so  long  by  no  cringing  or  truckling  to  the  higher 
authorities;  for  the  President,  Mr.  Adams,  having  told  him  that  the  post- 
office  department  was  an  Augean  stable,  and  must  be  cleansed,  —  meaning 
that  the  postmasters  who  were  of  the  opposite  party  must  be  removed,  — 
Colonel  Habersham  replied  that  these  officers  had  discharged  their  duty 
faithfully,  and  that  therefore  lie  would  not  remove  them,  but  that  the  Pres 
ident  could  remove  the  Postmaster- General.     This,  however,  Mr.  Adams, 
it  seems,  did  not  think  proper  to  do."     National  Portrait  Gallery,  vol.  iv., 
article,  u  Joseph  Habersham." 

2  He  was  a  member  of  the  commercial  house  of  Joseph  Clay  &  Company. 


JOSEPH  HABERSHAM.  87 

although  quick  to  take  offense,  he  was  ready  and 
anxious  to  make  atonement  for  the  slightest  wrong ; 
kind  and  indulgent  to  his  slaves ;  humane  and  liberal 
to  the  poor ;  strict  in  the  performance  of  all  his  con 
tracts;  tenacious  of  his  own  as  he  had  been  of  the 
rights  of  his  country.  Allowing  to  others  the  same  in 
dependent  and  frank  expression  of  opinion  which  he 
always  exercised  for  himself,  he  may  with  truth  be  pro 
nounced  to  have  been  a  fine  specimen  of  that  noble, 
generous,  and  chivalric  race  which  achieved  the  liberty 
and  independence  of  our  happy  country. 


LYMAN  HALL. 

THE  subject  of  this  sketch  was  a  descendant  in  the 
fifth  generation  of  John  Hall,  who,  coming  from  Coven 
try,  England,  crossed  the  Atlantic  in  the  ship  Griffin, 
and,  after  a  sojourn  in  Boston  and  New  Haven,  estab 
lished  his  home  at  Wallingford,  Connecticut.  In  this 
village  Lyman  Hall,  son  of  the  Hon.  John  Hall  and 
Mary  Street,  was  born  on  the  12th  of  April,  1724. 

Graduating  from  Yale  College  in  1747,  in  a  class  of 
twenty-eight  members,  several  of  whom  attained  distinc 
tion  in  after  life,  he  entered  upon  the  study  of  theology 
under  the  guidance  of  his  uncle,  Rev.  Samuel  Hall.  His 
purpose  undergoing  a  change  he  abandoned  the  idea  of 
becoming  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  and  applied  himself 
to  the  acquisition  of  a  medical  education.  After  quite 
a  thorough  preliminary  course  he  was  admitted  to  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine,  married  Mary  Osborne, 
and  commenced  the  practice  of  his  profession  in  his 
native  town. 

Early  in  1697  a  body  of  Puritans  from  the  towns  of 
Dorchester,  Roxbury,  and  Milton,  in  Massachusetts, 
taking  with  them  their  pastor,  Rev.  Joseph  Lord,  and 
proclaiming  their  desire  to  encourage  the  foundation 
of  churches  and  the  promotion  of  religion  in  the  South 
ern  planations,  removed  with  their  families  and  personal 
effects  and  formed  a  new  residence  at  Dorchester,  on 
the  left  bank  of  the  Ashley  River,  not  many  miles 
above  Charlestown  in  South  Carolina.  Here  these 


LYMAN   HALL.  89 

enterprising  colonists  multiplied  in  numbers  and  in 
creased  in  wealth,  exerting  a  strong  moral  and  politi 
cal  influence.  Attracted  by  tidings  of  the  prosperity 
of  this  settlement,  and  anxious  to  advance  his  profes 
sional  and  personal  interests.  Dr.  Hall  —  himself  in  full 
sympathy  with  the  religious  tenets  of  these  Congrega- 
tionalists  —  in  the  twenty-eighth  year  of  his  age  aban 
doned  his  home  at  Wallingford,  and  cast  his  lot  among 
the  Puritan  dwellers  at  Dorchester  and  Beach  Hill  in 
South  Carolina.  He  was  cordially  welcomed,  and 
appears  at  once  to  have  secured  the  confidence  of  the 
community. 

After  a  residence  of  rather  more  than  fifty  years  in 
this  swamp  region  of  Carolina,  finding  their  lands  im 
poverished  and  insufficient  for  the  rising  generation, 
Dorchester  and  Beach  Hill  proving  unhealthy,  —  the 
good  reports  of  the  lands  in  southern  Georgia  having 
been  confirmed  upon  the  personal  inspection  of  certain 
members  of  the  society  who  had  been  sent  for  that 
purpose,  and  a  grant l  of  22,400  acres  of  rich  land  hav 
ing  been  secured  from  the  Georgia  authorities,  —  the 
members  of  the  Dorchester  society,  in  1752,  began 
moving  into  what  is  now  the  swamp  region  of  Lib 
erty  County.  This  territory  lay  between  Mount  Hope 
Swamp  on  the  north  and  Bull  Town  Swamp  on  the 
south.  Begun  in  1752,  the  immigration  continued 
until  1771,  and  embraced  about  three  hundred  and 
fifty  whites  and  fifteen  hundred  negro  slaves.  The 
influx  of  this  population  was  most  marked  during  the 
years  1754,  1755,  and  1756.  It  was  about  this  time 
that  Dr.  Hall,  following  the  fortunes  of  his  newly  formed 
friends,  accompanied  them  to  the  Midway  settlement., 

1  This  grant  was  subsequently  enlarged  by  the  addition  of  9,950  acres. 


90  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

and  became  the  owner  of  a  small  plantation  a  few  miles 
north  of  Midway  Meeting-House  on  the  line  of  the 
Savannah  and  Darien  highway,  —  a  road  connecting 
the  northern  and  southern  confines  of  the  province, 
which  had  been  completed  under  the  guidance  of  Tomo- 
chi-chi  and  by  the  command  of  General  Oglethorpe. 
The  region  into  which  the  Dorchester  congregation 
thus  immigrated  was  known  as  the  "Midway  district." 
The  country  was  densely  wooded,  marish,  and  filled 
with  game.  Ducks  and  geese  in  innumerable  quanti 
ties  frequented  the  low  grounds,  creeks,  and  lagoons. 
Wild  turkeys  and  deer  abounded.  Bears  and  beavers 
dwelt  in  the  swamps,  and  buffalo  herds  wandered  in  the 
neighborhood.  There  was  no  lack  of  squirrels,  rac 
coons,  opossums,  rabbits,  snipe,  woodcock,  cranes,  herons, 
and  rice-birds.  Wildcats  and  hawks  were  the  pest  of 
the  region,  while  the  cry  of  the  cougar  was  often  heard 
in  the  depths  of  the  vine-clad  woods.  The  waters  were 
alive  with  fishes,  alligators,  terrapins,  and  snakes. 

In  utter  disregard  of  the  manifest  laws  of  health, 
these  immigrants  located  their  dwellings  and  planta 
tion  quarters  on  the  edges  of  the  swamps,  and  in  such 
malarial  situations  passed  the  entire  year.  While  corn, 
potatoes,  and  peas  were  planted  on  the  upland,  chief 
attention  was  bestowed  upon  the  cultivation  of  rice. 
To  that  end,  the  swamps,  at  great  labor,  were  cleared, 
ditched,  and  drained.  A  miasmatic  soil  was  thus  ex 
posed  to  the  action  of  the  sun  ;  and.  as  a  direct  conse 
quence  of  injudicious  location  and  a  too  frequent  in 
attention  to  domestic  comfort,  occurred  violent  sickness 
and  considerable  mortality. 

Dr.  Hall  found  ample  employment  for  his  best  pro 
fessional  skill,  and  endeared  himself  to  the  community 


LYMAN   HALL.  91 

by  his  unremitting  exertions  to  counteract  the  per 
nicious  influences  of  bilious  fevers  during  the  summer 
and  fall,  and  pleurisies  in  the  winter  and  spring. 

In  1758  Mark  Carr  conveyed-three  hundred  acres  of 
land  bordering  upon  Midway  River  to  certain  trustees, 
with  instructions  to  lay  out  a  town  to  be  called  Sun- 
bury.  So  soon  as  the  lots  were  surveyed  and  desig 
nated,  many  members  of  the  Midway  congregation,  at 
tracted  by  the  beauty  and  salubrity  of  the  location, 
became  purchasers,  and  there  established  their  summer 
homes.  Among  them  was  Dr.  Lyman  Hall,  who  bought 
two  of  the  most  desirable  lots,  numbers  33  and  34, 
fronting  on  the  bay.  Here  he  built  a  residence,  and 
spent  most  of  his  time  when  not  actively  employed  in 
visiting  his  patients.  His  reputation  as  a  successful 
practitioner  and  sympathizing  friend  was  most  enviable. 
In  fact,  he  speedily  became  the  leading  physician  of  the 
town  and  adjacent  country.  His  polite  address,  liter 
ary  attainments,  public  spirit,  social  habits,  thoughtful 
views,  and  well-rounded  character  united  in  rendering 
him  popular  and  influential  with  the  inhabitants  of 
St.  John's  Parish.  That  he  entertained  a  lively  inter 
est  in  public  affairs,  and  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  his 
fellow-citizens,  is  evident  from  the  prominence  accorded 
to  him  when  the  differences  between  England  and  her 
American  colonies  were  seriously  discussed,  and  the 
question  of  a  separation  from  the  mother  country  was 
gravely  considered.  His  sympathies  from  the  first  were 
with  the  "  Liberty  Boys,"  and  his  arguments  and  labors 
were  boldly  expended  in  compassing  liberation  from 
kingly  rule.  Georgia  occupied  a  position  peculiar 
among  her  sister  colonies.  Since  her  settlement  she 
had  received  by  grant  of  Parliament  nearly  £200.000, 


92  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

besides  generous  bounties  extended  in  aid  of  silk  culture 
and  various  agricultural  products.  The  paternal  care 
of  the  Crown  had  been  kindly  and  signally  manifested 
in  her  behalf.  As  a  natural  consequence,  there  existed  a 
marked  division  of  sentiment  upon  the  political  ques 
tions  which  agitated  the  community  during  the  years 
immediately  preceding  open  rupture  between  England 
and  America.  The  royal  party  was  active  and  strong, 
and  it  required  no  little  effort  on  the  part  of  the  rebels  to 
acquire  the  mastery  and  place  the  province  fairly  within 
the  lists  of  the  revolutionists.  The  line  of  demarcation 
was  sometimes  so  sharply  drawn  that  father  was  arrayed 
against  son,  and  brother  against  brother.  Thus,  not  to 
multiply  examples,  the  Hon.  James  Habersham  and 
Colonel  Noble  Jones  maintained  their  allegiance  to  the 
Crown,  while  their  sons  were  among  the  foremost  cham 
pions  of  the  rights  claimed  by  the  rebels.  The  cruel 
effects  of  such  disagreements,  experienced  prior  to  and 
during  the  progress  of  the  Revolution,  were  projected 
beyond  even  the  final  establishment  of  the  republic. 
Governor  Wright  was  most  energetic  in  upholding  the 
fortunes  of  his  royal  master,  and  succeeded  in  delaying 
action  on  the  part  of  the  Colony.  Through  his  influ 
ence,  Georgia  was  not  represented  in  the  first  session  of 
the  Continental  Congress.  The  Parish  of  St.  John  — 
which  then  possessed  nearly  one  third  of  the  aggregate 
wealth  of  Georgia,  and  the  citizens  of  which  were  noted 
for  their  thrift,  courage,  honesty,  and  determination  — 
chafed  under  the  inaction  of  the  province,  which  bred 
dissatisfaction  at  home,  and  called  down  denunciation 
most  violent  from  the  republican  party  in  South  Caro 
lina.  The  Puritan  element  in  the  parish,  cherishing 
and  proclaiming  intolerance  of  Established  Church  arid 


LYMAN  HALL.  93 

of  the  divine  right  of  kings,  impatient  of  restraint,  ac 
customed  to  independent  thought  and  action,  and  care 
less  of  associations  which  encouraged  tender  memories 
of  and  love  for  the  mother  country,  asserted  its  hatreds, 
its  affiliations,  and  its  hopes  with  no  uncertain  utter 
ance,  and  appears  to  have  controlled  the  action  of  the 
entire  parish.  In  commenting  upon  the  disturbed  con 
dition  of  affairs,  Governor  Wright  advised  the  Earl  of 
Dartmouth  that  the  head  of  the  rebellion  in  Georgia 
should  be  located  in  St.  John's  Parish,  and  that  the  rev 
olutionary  measures  there  inaugurated  were  to  be 
mainly  referred  to  the  influence  of  the  "descendants 
of  New  England  people  of  the  Puritan  independent 
sect,"  who,  "  retaining  a  strong  tincture  of  republican 
or  Oliverian  principles,  have  entered  into  an  agreement 
among  themselves  to  adopt  both  the  resolutions  and 
associations  of  the  Continental  Congress." 

On  the  revolutionary  altars  erected  within  the  Mid 
way  district  were  the  fires  of  resistance  to  the  dominion 
of  England  earliest  kindled ;  and  of  all  the  patriots  of 
that  uncompromising  community  Lyman  Hall,  by  his 
counsel,  exhortations,  and  determined  spirit,  added  stout 
est  fuel  to  the  flames.  Between  the  immigrants  from 
Dorchester  and  the  distressed  Bostonians  existed  not 
only  the  ties  of  a  common  lineage,  but  also  sympathies 
born  of  kindred  religious,  moral,  social,  and  political 
education.  It  is  therefore  not  difficult  to  perceive  why 
the  Midway  settlement  declared  at  such  an  early  period 
and  in  such  an  emphatic  manner  for  the  revolutionists. 

Dissatisfied  with  the  failure  of  the  Savannah  Congress 
to  place  the  province  in  direct  association  with  the  other 
twelve  American  colonies,  the  inhabitants  of  St.  John's 
Parish,  under  the  leadership  of  Lyman  Hall,  resolved 


94  BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 

"  to  exert  themselves  to  the  utmost,  and  to  make  every 
sacrifice  that  men  impressed  with  the  strongest  sense 
of  their  rights  and  liberties,  and  warm  with  the  most 
benevolent  feelings  for  their  oppressed  brethren,  can 
make  to  stand  firmly  or  fall  gloriously  in  the  common 
cause."  They  called  a  convention  of  their  own,  ex 
tending  invitations  to  the  inhabitants  of  other  parishes, 
in  the  hope  "  that,  if  a  majority  of  the  parishes  would 
unite  with  them,  they  would  send  deputies  to  join  the 
General  Congress,  and  faithfully  and  religiously  abide 
by  and  conform  to  such  determination  as  should  there 
be  entered  into,  and  come  from  thence  recommended." 

This  effort  failing  of  success,  on  the  9th  of  February, 
1775,  at  a  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of  St.  John's 
Parish,  —  convened  at  Midway  and  presided  over  by 
Lyman  Hall,  —  Joseph  Wood,  Daniel  Roberts,  and  Sam 
uel  Stevens,  members  of  the  parish  committee,  were 
deputed  with  a  carefully  prepared  letter  to  repair  to 
Charlestown,  South  Carolina,  and  request  of  the  Com 
mittee  of  Correspondence  their  "permission  to  form  an 
alliance  with  them,  and  to  conduct  trade  and  commerce 
according  to  the  Act  of  Non-importation  to  which  they 
had  already  acceded."  Among  other  arguments  ad 
vanced  in  that  communication,  framed  and  signed  by 
Dr.  Hall  as  chairman,  we  find  the  following:  — 

"  Our  being  a  parish  of  a  non-associated  province 
cannot,  we  presume,  prevent  our  joining  the  other 
provinces,  as  the  restrictions  mentioned  in  the  14th 
clause  of  the  General  Association  must,  as  we  apprehend, 
be  considered  as  a  general  rule  only,  and  respects  this 
province  considered  in  a  mixed  or  promiscuous  sense ; 
but  as  we  of  this  parish  are  a  body  detached  from  the 
rest  by  our  resolutions  and  association,  and  sufficiently 


LYMAN  HALL.  95 

distinct  by  local  situation,  large  enough  for  particular 
notice,  and  have  been  treated  as  such  by  a  particular 
address  from  the  late  Continental  Congress,  adjoining  a 
seaport,  and  in  that  respect  capable  of  conforming  to 
the  General  Association,  and  (if  connected  with  you) 
with  the  same  fidelity  as  a  distinct  parish  of  your  own 
province :  therefore  we  must  be  considered  as  compre 
hended  within  the  spirit  and  equitable  meaning  of  the 
Continental  Association,  and  we  are  assured  you  will  not 
condemn  the  innocent  with  the  guilty,  especially  when 
a  due  separation  is  made  between  them." 

Reaching  Charlestown  on  the  23d  of  February,  Messrs. 
Wood,  Roberts,  and  Stevens  waited  upon  the  General 
Committee  and  earnestly  endeavored  to  accomplish  their 
mission.  While  expressing  their  admiration  of  the  pa 
triotism  of  the  parish,  and  entreating  its  citizens  to 
persevere  in  their  laudable  exertions,  the  Carolinians 
deemed  it  ua  violation  of  the  Continental  Association 
to  remove  the  prohibition  in  favor  of  any  part  of  a 
province." 

Disappointed,  and  yet  not  despairing,  the  inhabitants 
of  St.  John's  Parish  "  resolved  to  prosecute  their  claims 
to  an  equality  with  the  Confederated  Colonies."  Having 
adopted  certain  resolutions  by  which  they  obligated 
themselves  to  hold  no  commerce  with  Savannah  or 
other  places  except  under  the  supervision  of  a  commit 
tee,  and  then  only  with  a  view  to  procuring  the  neces 
saries  of  life,  and  having  avowed  their  entire  sympathy 
with  all  the  articles  and  declarations  promulgated  by 
the  General  Congress,  the  inhabitants  of  St.  John's  Par 
ish  elected  Dr.  Lyman  Hall  as  a  delegate  to  represent 
them  in  the  Continental  Congress.  This  appointment 
occurred  on  the  21st  of  March,  1775,  and  was  conferred 


96  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

in  direct  recognition  of  his  prominent  and  persistent 
services  in  behalf  of  the  revolutionists.  No  more  suit 
able  selection  could  have  been  made.  Among  the  prom 
inent  citizens  of  the  parish  no  one  enjoyed  a  more 
enviable  reputation  for  courage,  ability,  wisdom,  and 
loj^alty  to  the  aims  of  the  republican  party.  When 
departing  for  the  Continental  Congress,  he  carried  with 
him,  as  a  present  from  his  constituents  to  the  suffering 
patriots  in  Massachusetts,  one  hundred  and  sixty  barrels 
of  rice  and  fifty  pounds  sterling. 

The  patriotic  spirit  of  its  inhabitants,  and  this  inde 
pendent  action  of  St.  John's  Parish  in  advance  of  the 
other  Georgia  parishes,  were  afterwards  acknowledged 
when  all  the  parishes  were  in  accord  in  the  revolution 
ary  movement.  As  a  tribute  of  praise,  and  in  token 
of  general  admiration,  the  name  of  Liberty  County  was 
conferred  upon  the  consolidated  parishes  of  St.  John, 
St.  Andrew,  and  St.  James.  On  the  loth  of  May,  1775, 
Dr.  Hall,  who  had  been  so  instrumental  in  persuading 
the  Parish  of  St.  John  to  this  independent  course, 
attended  at  the  door  of  Congress,  presented  his  creden 
tials,  and  was  unanimously  "  admitted  as  a  delegate  from 
the  Parish  of  St.  John  in  the  Colony  of  Georgia,  subject  to 
such  regulations  as  Congress  should  determine  relative 
to  his  voting."  Until  Georgia  was  fully  represented,  he 
declined  to  vote  upon  questions  which  were  to  be  de 
cided  by  a  vote  of  colonies.  He  participated,  however, 
in  the  debates,  recorded  his  opinion  in  cases  where  an 
expression  of  sentiment  by  colonies  was  not  required, 
and  declared  his  earnest  conviction  "  that  the  example 
which  had  been  shown  by  the  parish  which  he  repre 
sented  would  be  speedily  followed,  and  that  the  repre 
sentation  of  Georgia  would  soon  be  complete." 


LYMAN  HALL.  97 

This  came  to  pass  within  a  very  few  months,  and 
Georgia  assumed  her  station  and  responsibilities  in  the 
sisterhood  of  Confederated  Colonies. 

By  successive  appointments  Dr.  Hall  was  continued 
as  a  member  from  Georgia  of  the  Continental  Congress. 
Upon  the  fall  of  Savannah  in  December,  1778,  and  the 
capture  of  Sunbury,  the  entire  coast  region  of  Georgia 
passed  into  the  possession  of  the  king's  forces,  which 
overran,  plundered,  and  exacted  the  most  onerous  trib 
ute.  To  the  families  of  those  who  maintained  their 
allegiance  to  the  rebel  cause  no  mercy  was  shown. 
Stripped  of  property,  their  homes  rendered  desolate, 
often  without  food  and  clothing,  they  were  dependent 
upon  the  charity  of  impoverished  neighbors. 

Dr.  Hall's  residence  in  Sunbury  and  his  rice  plantation 
near  Midway  Meeting-House  were  despoiled.  Under  such 
melancholy  circumstances  he  removed  his  family  to  the 
North,  and  there  resided  until  the  evacuation  of  Savan 
nah  in  1782.  While  his  services  as  a  member  of  the  Con 
tinental  Congress  were  perhaps  not  as  conspicuous  as 
those  rendered  by  some  of  his  brethren,  it  may  never 
theless  be  fairly  claimed  that  he  was  regular,  earnest, 
and  intelligent  in  the  discharge  of  the  important  duties 
devolving  upon  him.  He  was  present,  and  in  association 
with  Button  Gwinnett  and  George  Walton  affixed  his 
signature  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

Between  Dr.  Hall  and  the  gifted,  ambitious  Gwinnett 
existed  a  warm  friendship.  The  former  resided  at  Sun- 
bury,  and  the  latter  upon  St.  Catherine  Island,  within 
distant  sight  of  that  pleasant  village.  They  constantly 
exchanged  social  courtesies,  and  were  of  one  mind 
upon  the  political  questions  which  then  agitated  and 
divided  the  public  thought.  As  president  of  the  Coun- 
7 


98  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

cil  of  Safety  and  Commander-in-Chief  of  Georgia,  Gwin- 
nett,  in  1777,  anxious  to  signalize  his  administration  by 
a  feat  of  arms,  planned  an  expedition  for  the  subjuga 
tion  of  East  Florida.  Instead  of  intrusting  the  command 
of  the  forces  employed  to  General  Lachlan  Mclntosh? 
who,  as  the  ranking  military  officer  of  Georgia,  was 
entitled  in  all  fairness  and  in  accordance  with  custom 
to  expect  and  to  claim  it,  Gwinnett  set  him  aside  and 
determined  in  person  to  lead  the  expedition.  Mcln- 
tosh  was  not  even  permitted  to  accompany  his  brigade, 
and  Colonel  Elbert  was  assigned  to  the  command  of 
the  Continental  forces  to  the  exclusion  of  his  superior 
officer.  General  Mclntosh  was  naturally  incensed  at 
this  conduct  of  Gwinnett,  and  denounced  him  in  un 
measured  terms. 

Soon  after,  when,  in  the  exercise  of  his  gubernatorial 
powers  and  responding  to  the  emergency  caused  by 
the  lamented  death  of  Archibald  Bulloch,  Gwinnett 
convened  the  Legislature  to  elect  his  successor,  Mcln 
tosh  espoused  the  choice  of  John  Adam  Treutlen,  who 
was  the  rival  candidate  for  popular  favor.  Gwinnett 
had  set  his  heart  upon  the  office,  and  was  grievously 
disappointed  at  the  selection  of  his  opponent.  So  vio 
lent  was  the  animosity  harbored  by  Mclntosh,  that, 
during  the  short  but  heated  canvass,  he  publicly  de 
nounced  Gwinnett  in  unmeasured  terms.  The  quarrel 
between  these  gentlemen  culminated  on  the  15th  of 
May,  1777,  when  Gwinnett  challenged  Mclntosh  to 
mortal  combat.  They  met  the  next  morning  at  sunrise 
within  the  present  limits  of  the  city  of  Savannah. 
What  then  transpired  we  relate  in  the  language  of  Dr. 
Hall,  who,  in  a  postscript  to  a  letter  addressed  to  the 
Hon.  Roger  Sherman,  under  date  of  Savannah,  June  1, 
1777,  writes  as  follows:  — 


LYMAN   HALL.  99 

"I  resume  my  Pen  to  confirm  what  you  have  no 
Doubt  heard,  that  our  worthy  Friend  Gwinnett  has 
unfortunately  fell.  The  Contention  between  him  & 
the  Gen1  run  high,  principally  respectg  the  Expedition 
against  E.  Florida,  which  bro*  on  an  Enquiry  in  the 
House  of  Assembly  into  the  Conduct  of  Mr  Gwinnett 
who,  as  President  &  Commander  in  Chief,  had  made 
the  preparations  &  meant  with  the  Militia,  and  aid  of 
Continent1  Troops,  to  have  carried  them  into  Execution 
as  principal  Leader  &  Commander :  he  proceeded  as  far 
as  Sunbury,  —  from  this  about  40  mile,  —  with  a  small 
Fleet,  from  thence  sent  for  the  Militia  and  Continent1 
Troops  to  join  him  —  few  of  the  Militia  turned  out, 
except  those  of  the  Parish  of  St.  John,  &  when  the 
Gen1  with  the  Continent1  Troops  arrived,  Mr  Gwinnett 
summoned  a  Council  of  War,  but  the  Gen1  it  seems 
would  not  hold  a  Council  of  War  with  him  :  he  re 
peated  his  Summonses,  but  to  no  purpose,  on  which 
Mr.  Gwinnet's  Council  &  the  Field  Officers  of  the  Gen1 
advised  both  to  return  to  this  place  and  leave  the  com 
mand  of  the  Expedition  to  the  next  Officer.  This  mat 
ter  was  laid  before  the  Assembly,  where  both  appeared 
and  were  heard,  on  which  the  Assembly  Resolved  'that 
they  approved  the  Conduct  of  Mr  Gwinnett  &  his  Coun 
cil  so  far  as  those  matters  had  been  laid  before  them/ 
Here  it  was  (in  Assembly)  that  the  Gen1  called  him 
(as  'tis  said)  a  Scoundrell  &  lying  Rascal  —  I  confess  I 
did  not  hear  the  words,  not  being  so  nigh  the  parties ; 
however  it  seems  agreed  that  it  was  so.  A  Duel  was 
the  consequence,  in  whh  they  were  placed  at  10  or  12 
foot  Distance.  Discharged  their  Pistols  nearly  at  the 
same  Time.  Each  wounded  in  the  Thigh.  Mr  Gwin- 
nett's  thigh  broke  so  that  he  fell —  on  whh  ('tis  said) 


100  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

the  Gen1  Asked  him  if  he  chose  to  take  another  shot — 
was  answered  Yes,  if  they  would  help  him  up  (or  words 
nearly  the  same).  The  seconds  interposed.  Mr  Gwin- 
nett  was  brought  in,  the  Weather  Extremely  hot.  A 
Mortification  came  on  —  he  languish'd  from  that  Morn 
ing  (Friday)  till  Monday  Morning  following,  &  expired. 
"  0  Liberty !  Why  do  you  suffer  so  many  of  your 
faithful  sons,  your  warmest  Votaries,  to  fall  at  your 
Shrine  !  Alas !  my  Friend,  my  Friend  ! 

"Excuse  me,  Dr  Sir,  the  Man  v? as  Valuable,  so  attached 
to  the  Liberty  of  this  State  &  Continent  that  his  whole 
Attention,  Influence,  &  Interest  centered  in  it,  &  seemed 
riveted  to  it.  He  left  a  Mournful  Widow  and  Daughr 
&  I  may  say  the  Friends  of  Liberty  on  a  whole  Conti 
nent  to  deplore  his  Fall."  .  .  . 

Gwinnett's  death  caused  intense  excitement.  Dr. 
Hall  —  one  of  his  executors  and  a  warm  personal  friend 
— and  other  gentlemen  of  influence  brought  the  matter 
to  the  notice  of  the  Legislature,  and  charged  the  judi 
cial  officers  with  a  neglect  of  duty  in  not  arresting  Mc- 
Intosh  and  binding  him  over  to  answer  to  the  charge 
of  murder.  Informed  of  these  facts,  so  soon  as  his 
wound  permitted,  the  general  surrendered  himself  to 
Judge  Glen,  entered  into  bonds  for  his  appearance,  was 
indicted,  tried,  and  acquitted.  Even  this  determination 
of  the  matter  did  not  allay  the  resentment  of  the 
Gwinnett  party,  who,  incensed  at  the  loss  of  their 
leader,  used  every  exertion  to  impair  the  influence  of 
Mclntosh  and  to  fetter  his  efforts  in  the  public  service. 
At  the  suggestion  of  his  friends,  he  repaired  to  the 
headquarters  of  General  Washington  for  assignment  to 


LYMAN  HALL. 

o 

duty  in  other  quarters.     For  nearly  two  years  he  re 
mained  absent  from  his  native  State. 

Upon  his  return  to  Georgia,  Dr.  Hall  selected  Savan 
nah  as  his  home,  and,  with  shattered  fortunes,  resumed 
the  practice  of  his  profession.  While  thus  quietly 
employed  he  was,  in  January,  1783,  elected  Governor 
of  Georgia. 

His  acknowledgment  of  the  honor  thus  conferred 
was  expressed  in  the  following  brief  inaugural  address : 

"  MR.  SPEAKER  AND  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  ASSEMBLY  : 
"  I  esteem  your  unsolicited  appointment  of  me  to  the 
office  of  Chief  Magistrate  of  this  State  as  the  greatest 
honor,  and  I  am  affected  with  sentiments  of  the  warm 
est  gratitude  on  this  occasion.  The  early  and  decided 
part  which  I  took  in  the  cause  of  America  originated 
from  a  full  conviction  of  the  justice  and  rectitude  of 
the  cause  we  engaged  in,  has  uniformly  continued  as 
the  principle  of  my  heart,  and  I  trust  will  to  the  last 
moments  of  my  life. 

"  If  I  can,  by  a  strict  attention  to  the  various  objects 
of  government,  and  a  steady  and  impartial  exertion  of 
the  powers  with  which  you  have  invested  me,  carry 
into  execution  the  wise  and  salutary  laws  of  the  State, 
it  will  afford  a  pleasing  prospect  of  our  future  welfare, 
brighten  the  dawn  of  independence,  and  establish  the 
genuine  principles  of  whigism  on  a  firm  and  permanent 
foundation. 

"The  confident  reliance,  gentlemen,  I  have  in  the 
wisdom  of  the  council  you  have  assigned  me,  and  the 
firm  support  of  your  honorable  House,  afford  a  flattering 
expectation  of  succeeding  in  this  difficult  and  important 
trust." 


105  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Georgia  had  but  recently  emerged  from  the  perils 
and  privations  of  the  Revolution ;  and,  while  all  were 
rejoicing  in  the  inchoate  blessings  of  independence, 
poverty,  sorrow,  and  desolation  were  the  heritage  of 
many  homes.  The  energies  of  his  administration,  which 
lasted  for  only  one  year,  were  chiefly  directed  to  the 
establishment  of  land  offices  and  the  sale  of  confiscated 
property ;  to  the  arrangement  of  the  public  debt,  and 
the  rewarding  of  officers  and  soldiers  with  bounty  war 
rants  for  services  rendered ;  with  the  accommodation 
of  differences  and  the  prevention  of  further  disturbance 
with  Florida,  and  the  adjustment  of  the  northern  boun 
dary  of  Georgia ;  with  the  establishment  of  courts  and 
schools ;  and  with  the  consummation  of  treaties  of  ces 
sion  from  and  amity  with  contiguous  Indian  nations. 
The  most  important  of  these  were  solemnized  at  Au 
gusta  with  the  Cherokee  Indians  in  May,  and  with  the 
Creek  Indians  in  November,  1783.  Upon  the  assem 
bling  of  the  Legislature  at  Augusta,  on  the  8th  of  July, 
1783,  Governor  Hall,  in  his  message,  thus  commended 
to  its  members  the  subject  of  public  education :  — 

"In  addition,  therefore,  to  wholesome  laws  restraining 
vice,  every  encouragement  ought  to  be  given  to  intro 
duce  religion,  and  learned  clergy  to  perform  divine 
worship  in  honor  of  God,  and  to  cultivate  principles  of 
religion  and  virtue  among  our  citizens.  For  this  pur 
pose  it  will  be  your  wisdom  to  lay  an  early  foundation 
for  endowing  seminaries  of  learning;  nor  can  you,  I 
conceive,  lay  a  better  than  by  a  grant  of  a  sufficient 
tract  of  land,  that  may,  as  in  other  governments,  here 
after,  by  lease  or  otherwise,  raise  a  revenue  sufficient 
to  support  such  valuable  institutions." 

Be  it  spoken  and  remembered  to  his  perpetual  praise 


LYMAN  HALL.  103 

that  Governor  Hall,  by  this  early  and  wise  suggestion, 
sounded  the  key-note  and  paved  the  way  for  the  foun 
dation  and  the  sustentation  of  the  University  of  Geor 
gia,  which,  for  nearly  a  century,  has  proven  the  parent 
of  higher  education  and  civilization  in  Georgia.  Upon 
the  conclusion  of  his  term  of  service  he  resumed,  in 
Savannah,  the  practice  of  his  profession,  holding  no 
public  office  save  that  of  judge  of  the  inferior  court  of 
Chatham  County.  This  position  he  resigned  upon  his 
removal  to  Burke  County  in  1790.  He  had  evidently 
prospered  and  accumulated  a  fortune  somewhat  un 
usual  in  that  day  and  community,  for  he  then  purchased 
a  fine  plantation  on  the  Savannah  River,  not  far  from 
Shell  Bluff,  and  furnished  it  with  a  considerable  number 
of  negro  slaves,  and  all  animals,  implements,  and  provi 
sions  requisite  for  its  proper  cultivation. 

Here  he  died  on  the  19th  of  October,  1790,  in  the 
sixty-seventh  year  of  his  age,  leaving  a  widow  Mary, 
and  a  son  John  (both  of  whom  within  a  short  time 
followed  him  to  the  tomb),  and  was  buried  in  a  substan 
tial  brick  vault  situated  on  a  bold  bluff  overlooking  the 
Savannah  River.  There  he  rested  until  his  remains  were 
removed  and  brought  to  Augusta,  Georgia,  and  placed, 
in  association  with  those  of  George  Walton,  beneath  the 
monument  erected  by  patriotic  citizens  in  front  of  the 
court  house  in  honor  of  the  signers  from  Georgia  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  Gwinnett's  bones  could 
not  be  found;  for,  although  it  was  believed  that  he  was 
interred  in  the  old  cemetery  on  South  Broad  Street  in 
Savannah,  no  stone  having  been  erected  over  his  grave, 
all  memory  of  the  place  of  his  sepulture  had  vanished. 

The  will  of  Dr.  Hall,  which  was  on  file  in  the  office 
of  the  Court  of  Ordinary  of  Burke  County,  at  Waynes- 


104          BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

boro',  was  destroyed  by  an  accidental  fire  which  con 
sumed  the  court  house  and  most  of  the  public  records. 
Subsequent  to  the  removal  of  his  remains  to  Augusta, 
Mr.  William  D'Antignac,  who  then  owned  the  Hall 
plantation,  forwarded  to  the  corporate  authorities  of 
Wallingford,  Connecticut,  the  native  town  of  the  signer, 
the  marble  slab  inserted  in  the  front  of  the  brick  vault 
wherein  they  had  so  long  rested.  That  slab  is  still 
carefully  preserved.  It  bears  the  following  inscrip 
tion  :  — 

Beneath  this  stone  rest  the  remains  of 

HON.  LYMAN  HALL, 

formerly  Governor  of  this  State,  who  departed  this  life 
on  the  19th  of  October,  1790,  in  the  67th  year  of  his 
age.  In  the  cause  of  America  he  was  uniformly  a 
patriot.  In  the  incumbent  duties  of  a  husband  and  a 
father  he  acquitted  himself  with  affection  and  tender 
ness. 

But  reader,  above  all  know  from  this  inscription  that 
he  left  this  probationary  state  as  a  true  Christian  and 
an  honest  man. 

To  those  so  mourned  in  death,  so  loved  in  life, 
The  childless  parent  and  the  widowed  wife 
With  tears  inscribes  this  monumental  stone, 
That  holds  his  ashes  and  expects  her  own. 

In  Sanderson's  "Lives  of  the  Signers"  we  are  advised 
that  Dr.  Lyman  Hall  was  six  feet  high  and  finely  pro 
portioned;  that  his  manners  were  easy  and  polite;  that 
his  deportment  was  affable  and  dignified;  that  the  force 
of  his  enthusiasm  was  tempered  by  discretion ;  that  he 
was  firm  in  purpose  and  principles ;  that  the  ascend 
ency  which  he  gained  was  engendered  by  a  mild,  per 
suasive  manner  coupled  with  a  calm,  unruffled  temper; 


LYMAN  HALL.  105 

and  that,  possessing  a  strong,  discriminating  mind,  he 
had  the  power  of  imparting  his  energy  to  others,  and 
was  peculiarly  fitted  to  flourish  in  the  perplexing  and 
perilous  scenes  of  the  Eevolution. 

While  there  are  several  engraved  portraits  of  this 
signer,  we  cannot  speak  authoritatively  in  regard  to 
the  genuineness  of  any  of  them.  Careful  inquiry  has 
thus  far  failed  to  disclose  the  existence  of  any  original 
portrait  of  Dr.  Hall,  unless  that  in  the  Philadelphia 
group,  from  which  my  friend  Dr.  Thomas  Addis  Emmet, 
of  New  York  city,  had  his  drawing  made,  may  be  so 
regarded.  So  far  as  we  can  ascertain,  there  is  in  Geor 
gia  no  original  likeness  of  Dr.  Hall.  His  only  son  died 
childless,  and  there  are  no  lineal  descendants  of  this 
signer.  The  State  of  Georgia  perpetuates  his  name  by 
one  of  her  counties,  and  the  memory  of  his  manly  walk 
and  conversation,  of  his  Christian  virtues,  useful  acts, 
and  patriotic  impulses,  is  and  will  be  gratefully  cher 
ished. 

Although  he  never  bore  arms,  or  won  the  distinction 
of  an  orator,  he  hazarded  everything  in  the  cause  of 
humanity  and  liberty,  on  every  occasion  manifesting 
an  exalted  patriotism  conscious  of  the  blessings  to  be 
secured  and  jealous  of  the  rights  to  be  defended. 


JOHN   HOUSTOUN. 

THIS  son  of  Sir  Patrick  Houstoun,  Bart.,  —  registrar 
of  grants,  receiver  of  quitrents,  and  a  member  of  coun 
cil  under  the  royal  government  in  Georgia,  —  was  a 
lawyer  by  profession  and  a  gentleman  of  liberal  edu 
cation,  culture,  and  refinement.  He  was  born  in  the 
Parish  of  St.  George  on  the  31st  of  August,  1744.  Re 
pudiating  that  allegiance  to  the  Crown  which  his 
father  and  many  of  the  older  and  prominent  citizens 
of  the  Colony  so  earnestly  cherished  and  steadfastly 
maintained,  at  an  early  period  he  avowed  sentiments 
of  disloyalty  to  the  acts  of  Parliament,  and  espoused 
the  cause  of  the  rebels.  In  July,  1774,  we  find  him, 
with  Noble  W.  Jones,  Archibald  Bulloch,  and  John 
Walton,  extending  a  public  invitation  to  all  the  inhab 
itants  of  Georgia  to  meet  at  the  Liberty  Pole,  at  Ton- 
dee's  Tavern,  in  Savannah,  to  consider  their  constitu 
tional  rights  and  liberties  as  American  subjects,  and  to 
adopt  such  measures  for  the  redress  of  existing  griev 
ances  as  might  appear  proper  and  expedient.  By 
those  who  responded  to  the  call  Mr.  Houstoun  was 
appointed  a  member  of  a  committee  to  prepare  resolu 
tions,  similar  to  those  which  had  been  passed  by  the 
Northern  Colonies,  expressive  of  their  condemnation  of 
the  recent  unjust  and  oppressive  acts  of  Parliament, 
and  of  their  determination  to  employ  all  lawful  means 
for  the  assertion  of  their  constitutional  rights.  The 
10th  of  the  following  August  was  fixed  as  the  day, 


JOHN  HOUSTOUN.  107 

and  the  town  of  Savannah  was  designated  as  the  place, 
for  the  submission,  by  the  committee,  of  the  desired 
report. 

In  contempt  of  the  wish  of  Governor  Wright,  and  in 
utter  disregard  of  his  proclamation  denouncing  the 
purposed  assemblage  as  illegal  and  revolutionary,  a 
general  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Province  was 
held  at  Tondee's  Tavern  at  the  time  suggested.  The 
committee  then  reported  a  series  of  resolutions,  very 
independent  in  their  tone,  and  expressive  of  senti 
ments  favorable  to  the  redress  of  pending  political  ills 
and  to  a  union  of  the  Province  with  her  twelve  sisters 
in  a  confederation  for  the  common  defense.  Of  the 
committee  then  raised  to  solicit  and  forward  supplies 
for  the  relief  of  the  impoverished  Bostonians,  Mr. 
Houstoun  was  a  member. 

The  conclusions  reached  and  promulgated  by  this 
convocation  of  liberty-loving  people  provoked  severe 
comment  on  the  part  of  the  king's  servants,  intensified 
the  division  of  sentiment  upon  the  political  questions 
which  then  agitated  the  popular  mind,  and  evoked 
violent  protests  from  various  quarters.  In  that  meet 
ing  the  propriety  of  sending  six  deputies  to  the  Gen 
eral  Congress  of  the  American  Colonies  had  been  dis 
cussed,  but  the  suggestion  did  not  meet  with  general 
favor. 

Resolved  upon  controlling  the  political  fortunes  of 
the  Province,  and  intent  upon  moulding  public  senti 
ment  to  their  will,  the  "  Sons  of  Liberty  "  called  a  Pro- 
vincial  Congress  to  meet  on  the  18th  of  January,  1775, 
at  Savannah.  The  power  of  Governor  Wright,  and  of 
the  loyal  party  in  Georgia,  had  been  so  successfully 
exerted  in  preventing  a  general  response  to  the  invi- 


108          BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

tation  extended  by  the  patriots  of  Christ  Church  Par 
ish,  that,  upon  the  assembling  of  that  Provincial  Con 
gress,  only  five  of  the  twelve  parishes  composing  the 
Colony  were  represented  by  delegates,  and  some  of 
them  were  so  hampered  by  restrictions  that  their  free 
dom  of  expression  and  action  was  materially  impaired. 
Chagrined  at  the  inaction  of  the  Province,  the  dele 
gates  present  essayed  to  accomplish  through  the  Com 
mons  House  of  Assembly,  then  in  session,  that  which,  of 
themselves,  they  were  not  strong  enough  to  perform. 
In  this,  however,  they  were  defeated  by  the  action  of 
Governor  Wright,  who,  by  adjourning  the  Assembly, 
thwarted  the  design  of  the  Liberty  party,  and  pre 
vented  a  nomination  of  delegates  to  the  Continental 
Congress,  which,  had  it  been  made  by  the  Assembly, 
would  have  carried  with  it  at  least  the  apparent  sanc 
tion  of  the  entire  Province.  Nevertheless,  the  Pro 
vincial  Congress,  feeble  as  it  was,  did  nominate  Mr. 
Houstoun,  Archibald  Bulloch,  and  Dr.  Noble  W.  Jones 
to  represent  Georgia  in  the  Continental  Congress. 
Rightly  judging,  however,  that  an  election  by  a  minor 
ity  of  the  parishes  did  not  justify  a  claim  on  their 
part  to  represent  the  entire  Province,  those  gentlemen 
did  not  attempt  to  take  their  seats  in  the  Continental 
Congress  to  which  they  had  been  thus  accredited,  but 
contented  themselves  with  addressing  a  carefully  pre 
pared  communication  to  the  president  of  that  body,  in 
which  they  suggested  reasons  in  explanation  of  the 
course  adopted  by  them. 

On  the  21st  of  June,  by  a  call  over  their  own  signa 
tures,  Dr.  Noble  W.  Jones,  Archibald  Bulloch,  John 
Houstoun,  and  George  Walton,  requested  the  inhabi 
tants  of  the  town  and  district  of  Savannah  to  meet  at 


JOHN   HOUSTOUN.  109 

the  Liberty  Pole,  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  of  the 
following  day,  to  select  a  committee  to  bring  about 
a  union  of  Georgia  with  the  other  American  Colonies. 
At  the  appointed  place  and  designated  hour  many 
were  present ;  a  Council  of  Safety  was  then  chosen, 
with  instructions  to  maintain  an  active  correspon 
dence  with  the  Continental  Congress,  with  Councils  of 
Safety  in  other  Provinces,  and  with  committees  in 
other  Georgia  parishes,  with  a  view  to  the  consumma 
tion  of  the  proposed  union.  Similar  meetings  were 
held  in  Georgia,  all  looking  to  an  early  affiliation  with 
the  confederated  sisterhood  of  American  Colonies.  As 
a  result  of  these  combined  efforts  on  the  part  of  the 
patriots,  there  assembled  in  Savannah  on  the  4th  of 
July,  1775,  a  Provincial  Congress  in  which  every 
Georgia  parish  was  fully  and  ably  represented.  In  the 
deliberations  of  this  Congress,  Mr.  Houstoun  —  who 
was  present  as  a  delegate  from  the  town  and  district  of 
Savannah — actively  participated.  By  the  conclusions 
then  reached,  Georgia  was  at  length  placed  in  full 
communion  and  alliance  with  the  twelve  other  Ameri 
can  Colonies.  Of  the  delegates  then  selected  to  repre 
sent  this  Province  in  the  Continental  Congress,  Mr. 
Houstoun  was  the  first  chosen.  Eesponding  to  this 
important  trust,  he  journeyed  to  Philadelphia,  and 
there,  with  Messrs.  Bulloch  and  Zubly,  participated  in 
the  deliberations  of  that  body  at  a  session  convened  in 
September. 

Mr.  Houstoun  was  similarly  complimented  by  the 
Provincial  Congress  which  assembled  in  Savannah  in 
January,  1776,  and  again  by  the  Congress  which  con 
vened  in  the  fall  of  that  year.  Of  the  Executive 
Council,  of  which  Benjamin  Andrew  was  chosen  presi- 


110          BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

dent,  he  was  a  member,  when,  on  the  10th  of  Janu 
ary,  1778,  he  was  elected  Governor  of  Georgia.  But 
for  the  defection  of  Dr.  Zubly,  which  necessitated  Mr. 
Houstoun's  presence  in  Georgia  at  that  perilous  epoch, 
his  name  would  have  been  affixed  to  the  Declaration 
of  Independence. 

While  Charlestown  was  still  rejoicing  over  the  de 
feat  of  the  British  fleet  before  the  palmetto-covered 
walls  of  the  fort  on  Sullivan's  Island,  in  company  with 
Jonathan  Bryan  and  Colonel  Lachlan  Mclntosh,  Mr. 
Houstoun  waited  upon  General  Charles  Lee,  and,  in 
the  name  of  the  Council  of  Safety  of  Georgia,  besought 
his  assistance  in  repelling  the  constantly  occurring  in 
cursions  from  Florida.  After  recounting  the  numerous 
depredations  committed  on  the  southern  and  south 
western  frontiers  of  Georgia  by  lawless  bands  swarm 
ing  from  Florida,  and  the  desolation  wrought  along 
the  coast  by  privateers  commissioned  by  Governor 
Tonyn,  the  committee  suggested  a  plan  of  operations 
by  which  these  banditti  might  be  slain  or  dispersed, 
and  the  town  of  St.  Augustine  captured.  Moved  by 
the  representations  of  the  committee,  General  Lee  re 
solved  upon  an  expedition  for  the  relief  of  Georgia, 
which,  although  subsequently  inaugurated,  was  not 
prosecuted  to  a  successful  conclusion. 

When  Mr.  Houstoun  was  inducted  into  office  as 
Governor  of  Georgia,  the  southern  frontier  of  the  State 
was  intensely  excited,  and  serious  apprehensions  were 
entertained  that  the  entire  commonwealth  would  be 
overrun  and  plundered  by  British,  Tories,  and  Indi 
ans  issuing  from  East  Florida.  At  a  meeting  of  the 
Executive  Council  held  on  the  16th  of  April  to  con 
sider  the  attitude  of  affairs,  both  civil  and  military, 


JOHN  HOUSTOUN.  Ill 

an  extraordinary  political  act  was  committed.  It  was 
nothing  less  than  investing  the  governor  with  almost 
dictatorial  powers.  In  a  preamble  and  resolutions,  that 
council  declared  the  situation  in  Georgia  to  be  so  truly 
alarming  that  only  the  most  spirited  and  vigorous 
exertions  could  suffice  to  defeat  the  machinations  of 
the  enemy ;  and  that  "  in  such  times  of  danger  it 
might  happen  that  everything  would  depend  upon  in 
stantaneous  measures  being  embraced,  which  could  not 
be  done  should  the  governor  wait  for  calling  a  coun 
cil."  Having  then  recorded  their  favorable  opinion  of 
the  constitutionality  of  the  measure  they  proposed  to 
adopt,  the  members  proceeded  to  sanction  the  follow 
ing  unusual  and  dangerous  policy  :  "  The  Council, 
therefore,  impressed  with  a  sense  of  the  calamitous 
situation  of  this  State,  and  apprehending  it  as  an  un 
avoidable  expedient,  do  request  that  his  Honor  the 
Governor  will  be  pleased  to  take  upon  himself  to  act 
in  such  manner  as  to  him  shall  seem  most  eligible  ; 
and  to  exercise  all  the  executive  powers  of  govern 
ment  appertaining  to  the  militia,  or  the  defense  of  the 
State  against  the  present  danger  which  threatens  it, 
or  in  annoyance  of  the  enemy,  independent  of  the 
Executive  Council,  and  without  calling,  consulting,  or 
advising  with  them,  unless  when  and  where  he  shall 
find  it  convenient  and  shall  choose  to  do  so.  And 
they  pledge  themselves  to  support  and  uphold  him  in 
so  doing,  and  to  adopt  as  their  own  the  measures 
which  he  shall  embrace ;  and  that  this  shall  continue 
during  the  present  emergency,  or  until  the  honorable 
House  of  Assembly  shall  make  an  order  or  give  their 
opinion  to  the  contrary." 

To  this  remarkable  exhibition  of  personal  confidence 


112  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Governor  Houstoun  replied  :  "  He  was  exceedingly 
unwilling  to  do  any  act  without  the  approbation  of  the 
Council ;  but  that  as  he  found,  by  experience  during 
the  present  alarm,  the  impossibility  of  at  all  times  get 
ting  them  together  when  too  much,  perhaps,  depended 
upon  a  minute,  and  further  that  as  the  Council  had 
given  it  as  their  opinion  that  the  proceeding  was  jus 
tifiable  under  the  Constitution,  and  as  the  meeting  of 
the  Assembly  was  so  near  at  hand  and  alarms  and 
dangers  seemed  to  thicken  on  all  sides,  he  agreed  to 
act  in  the  manner  the  Council  requested,  during  the 
present  emergency,  or  until  the  honorable  House  of 
Assembly  should  make  an  order  or  give  their  opinion 
to  the  contrary." 

While  such  a  delegation  of  authority  may  not  have 
been  prohibited  in  terms  by  the  Constitution  of  1777, 
it  is  very  questionable  whether  the  framers  of  that 
instrument  ever  contemplated  such  a  cession  on  the 
part  of  the  members  of  the  Executive  Council  who 
were  constituted  the  special  advisers  and  coadjutors  of 
the  governor  in  the  exercise  of  the  executive  powers 
of  government. 

The  threatening  aspect  of  affairs  on  the  Southern 
frontier,  and  the  general  alarm  pervading  the  State, 
caused  this  abnormal  action  on  the  part  of  the  Execu 
tive  Council. 

East  Florida,  with  its  king's  forces,  Scovilites,  out 
laws,  and  subsidized  Indians,  was  a  thorn  in  the  side  of 
Georgia.  St.  Augustine,  as  the  military  hive  whence 
these  predatory  bands  swarmed  to  the  annoyance  of 
the  dwellers  between  the  Alatamaha  and  the  St.  Mary 
rivers,  was  an  object  of  constant  disquietude  and 
hatred.  Its  destruction  was  a  favorite  scheme  with  the 


JOHN  HOUSTOUN.  113 

Georgia  authorities.  What  General  Lee  and  Governor 
Gwinnett  had  failed  to  accomplish,  Governor  Houstoun 
was  ambitious  to  achieve.  Invested  by  the  Executive 
Council  with  powers  little  less  than  dictatorial,  he  de 
sired  to  inaugurate  and  conduct  an  expedition  which 
would  render  his  administration  famous,  and  minis 
ter  to  the  security  of  the  commonwealth  over  which 
he  presided.  Strengthened  by  a  recent  accession  of 
Tories  from  the  heart  of  South  Carolina,  the  Floridians 
were  preparing  for  another  and  a  formidable  incursion 
into  Georgia.  Of  this  fact  Governor  Houstoun  was 
informed,  and  his  desire  was  not  only  to  push  back 
this  hostile  column,  but  to  follow  up  his  advantage 
even  to  the  investment  and  occupation  of  St.  Augus 
tine. 

Upon  a  conference  with  General  Robert  Howe,  who 
was  then  in  command  of  the  Southern  Department, 
with  his  headquarters  at  Savannah,  it  was  resolved  to 
concentrate  the  military  strength  of  Georgia  for  repel 
ling  the  threatened  attack,  and  for  the  subsequent  in 
vasion  of  Florida.  Of  the  militia  of  the  State,  Governor 
Houstoun  proposed  to  take  and  retain  personal  com 
mand.  When  summoned  to  the  field,  they  did  not 
aggregate  more  than  three  hundred  and  fifty  men, 
many  of  whom  were  poorly  armed  and  badly  disci 
plined.  The  Continental  forces  within  the  limits  of 
the  State  numbered  only  about  five  hundred  and  fifty. 
These  were  supplemented  by  two  hundred  and  fifty 
Continental  infantry,  and  thirty  artillerists  with  two 
field -pieces,  drawn  from  South  Carolina,  and  com 
manded  by  Colonel  Charles  Cotesworth  Pinckney. 
The  Carolina  militia,  under  Colonels  Bull  and  William 
son,  were  ordered  to  rendezvous  at  Purrysburg,  on  the 

8 


114  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Savannah  River.     Fort  Howe,  on  the  Alatamaha,  was 
designated  as  the  place  for  concentration. 

Upon  the  details  of  this  expedition,  including  the 
gallant  capture  of  the  Hinchinbrooke  and  the  Rebecca 
by  Colonel  Elbert ;  the  brave  but  fruitless  attempt  of 
Colonel  Clarke  to  dislodge  the  enemy  from  his  fortified 
position  on  Alligator  Creek ;  the  tardy  movements  of 
the  militia;  the  suffering  engendered  by  a  malarial 
region,  intense  heat,  bad  water,  insufficient  shelter, 
deficient  transportation,  and  unwholesome  food ;  the 
distractions  consequent  upon  disagreements  between 
commanding  officers,  and  the  deplorable  effects  of  a 
lack  of  military  discipline,  we  may  not  dwell.  Re 
membering  the  powers  conferred  by  his  Executive 
Council,  Governor.  Houstoun,  with  his  militia,  refused 
to  receive  orders  from  General  Howe.  Colonel  Wil 
liamson's  troops  would  not  yield  obedience  to  a  Conti 
nental  officer,  and  Commodore  Bowen  insisted  that  the 
naval  forces  were  entirely  distinct  from,  and  independ 
ent  of,  the  land  service.  Thus  was  General  Howe  left 
to  rely  only  upon  the  Continental  troops.  Had  a  mas 
terly  mind  been  present,  quickly  would  these  discord 
ant  elements  have  been  consolidated  ;  rapidly,  by  stern 
orders  and  enforced  discipline,  would  the  army  in  all 
its  parts  have  been  unified  and  brought  into  efficient 
subjection.  But  there  was  no  potent  voice  to  evoke 
order  out  of  confusion,  —  no  iron  will  to  dominate  over 
the  emergency.  Discouraged  by  the  perplexing  de 
lays,  appalled  by  the  sickness  of  the  troops,  embar 
rassed  by  the  want  of  cooperation  among  the  com 
manders,  the  lack  of  stores,  and  the  inefficiency  of  the 
transportation  department,  and  uncertain  as  to  the 
future,  General  Howe  convened  a  council  of  war  at 


JOHN  HOUSTOUN.  115 

Fort  Tonyn,  on  the  llth  of  July,  which  advised  an 
abandonment  of  the  expedition  so  far  as  the  Continen 
tal  forces  were  concerned. 

Left  to  themselves  by  the  withdrawal  of  the  Con 
tinental  troops,  Governor  Houstoun  and  Colonel  Wil 
liamson,  with  the  Georgia  and  South  Carolina  militia, 
at  first  contemplated  an  advance  as  far  as  the  river 
St.  John.  This  purpose,  however,  conceived  in  a  spirit 
of  pride  and  vainglory,  was  speedily  abandoned,  arid 
the  men  under  their  command  were  led  back  by  land 
and  dispersed  to  their  respective  homes. 

The  most  that  can  be  said  in  favor  of  this  cam 
paign,  with  its  lamentable  lack  of  preparation,  want  of 
management,  disagreement  between  commanders,  sur 
prising  mistakes,  inexcusable  delays,  vexatious  disap 
pointments,  and  fruitless  expenditures  of  men  and  mu 
nitions,  is  that  it  prevented  for  a  season  the  advance 
of  the  enemy  from  Florida.  Whether  this  sufficiently 
atoned  for  the  waste  of  time,  health,  life,  and  treasure 
may  fairly  be  questioned. 

In  1784  Mr.  Houstoun  was  a  second  time  elected 
Governor  of  Georgia.  It  was  during  this  administra 
tion  that  provision  was  made  by  the  legislature  for  the 
establishment  of  a  State  institution  of  learning,  which 
—  at  first  as  Franklin  College,  and  subsequently  as 
the  University  of  Georgia  —  has,  for  nearly  a  century, 
moulded  the  higher  education  of  the  youths  of  this 
commonwealth,  and  ministered  to  the  civilization  of 
Georgia.  The  original  cession  of  forty  thousand  acres 
of  the  public  lands  for  the  foundation  and  support  of 
this  school  was  made  to  Governor  Houstoun,  James 
Habersham,  William  Few,  Joseph  Clay,  Abraham  Bald 
win,  William  Houstoun,  and  Nathan  Brownson,  in  trust 


116  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

for  the  purpose  designated  ;  and  Governor  Houstoun 
was  first  named  in  the  list  of  trustees  who,  in  1785, 
were  empowered  to  put  this  educational  scheme  in 
practical  operation. 

Much  attention  was  now  bestowed  upon  issuing  war 
rants  to  such  citizens  as  had  rendered  military  service 
during  the  late  war,  and  in  the  orderly  administration 
of  the  Land  Court. 

In  1786  Mr.  Houstoun  was  commissioned  as  Chief 
Justice  of  Georgia,  and  in  the  following  year  he  was 
a  member  of  the  commission  appointed  by  the  State 
to  settle  the  boundary  line  between  Georgia  and  South 
Carolina.  In  the  convention,  which  concluded  its 
labors  at  Beaufort,  South  Carolina,  on  the  28th  of 
April,  1787,  Georgia  was  represented  by  Governor 
Houstoun,  Major  John  Habersham,  and  General  Lach- 
lan  Mclntosh  ;  while,  on  the  part  of  South  Carolina, 
General  Charles  Cotesvvorth  Pinckney,  General  An 
drew  Pickens,  and  the  Hon.  Pierce  Butler  appeared 
as  commissioners.  From  the  conclusions  arrived  at 
by  that  commission  Governor  Houstoun  dissented,  and 
his  reasons  for  such  dissent  may  be  found  in  extenso 
in  Marbury  and  Crawford's  Digest,  pp.  666  and  677. 
Like  everything  which  emanated  from  his  pen,  this 
document  is  clear,  forcible,  and  well  expressed. 

In  1789  he  was  voted  for  under  the  operation  of 
the  Constitution  just  promulgated,  but  the  choice  for 
Governor  was  accorded  to  the  Hon.  Edward  Telfair. 
The  same  year  Mr.  Houstoun  was  elected  a  justice  for 
Chatham  County,  and  in  the  following  year  he  was 
complimented  with  the  Mayoralty  of  Savannah.  Upon 
the  occasion  of  President  Washington's  visit  to  that 
city,  in  May,  1791,  he  was  a  member  of  the  commit- 


JOHN  HOUSTOUN.  117 

tee  which   welcomed  and    entertained    the  illustrious 
guest. 

While  not  busied  with  public  affairs  Governor  Hous- 
toun  clave  to  his  profession,  of  which  he  was  an  orna 
ment,  and  in  the  practice  of  which  he  always  found 
lucrative  and  honorable  employment.  No  citizen  en 
joyed  a  more  enviable  reputation,  or  commended  him 
self  more  thoroughly  to  the  confidence  and  the  respect 
of  the  community.  Many  important  trusts  were  com 
mitted  to  his  keeping.  In  their  execution  he  was 
uniformly  faithful  and  competent.  He  died  at  his 
suburban  home  at  White  Bluff,  near  Savannah,  on  the 
20th  of  July,  1796.1  Georgia  perpetuates  his  name 
and  his  memory  by  one  of  her  largest  and  most  fertile 
counties. 

1  Two  days  afterwards  his  will  was  admitted  to  probate.  It  remains  of 
file  and  of  record  in  the  Ordinary's  Office  of  Chatham  County,  in  Savan 
nah,  Georgia. 


WILLIAM  HOUSTOUN. 

THE  subject  of  this  sketch  —  a  son  of  Sir  Patrick 
Houstoun,  and  a  brother  of  Governor  John  Houstoim  — 
is  believed  to  have  been  born  in  Savannah,  where  his 
life  was  spent.  He  was  a  lawyer  by  profession,  having 
been  admitted  in  1776  to  the  Inner  Temple,  London. 
Returning  home,  he  espoused  the  cause  of  the  Revolu 
tionists,  and  was  twice  honored  by  selection  as  a  Del 
egate  to  the  Continental  Congress.  In  1787  he  was 
chosen  as  one  of  the  deputies  from  Georgia  to  the 
convention  for  revising  the  Federal  Constitution.  Al 
though  he  attended  and  participated  in  the  delibera 
tions  of  that  august  body,  his  name  does  not  appear 
among  the  members  who  signed  the  Constitution  then 
formulated.  Two  years  before,  he  had  acted  as  one  of 
the  agents  named  on  the  part  of  the  State  of  Georgia 
to  settle  the  boundary  between  that  commonwealth 
and  Carolina.  With  the  final  adjudication  of  the  ques 
tion,  however,  he  had  no  connection.  His  name  appears 
among  the  original  trustees  for  the  establishment  of 
the  University  of  Georgia ;  and  to  Lyman  Hall,  Gover 
nor  John  Houstoun,  William  Few,  Joseph  Clay,  Abra 
ham  Baldwin,  William  Houstoun,  and  Nathan  Brownson 
was  the  primal  cession  of  forty  thousand  acres  of  land 
made  by  the  State  of  Georgia  for  the  establishment  and 
endowment  of  that  seminary  of  learning. 

But  little  can  be  gleaned  in  regard  to  this  member 
from  Georgia  of  the  Continental  Congress,  but  the  tra- 


WILLIAM  HOUSTOUN.  119 

dition  lives  that  he  was  a  thorough  gentleman,  an  ac 
complished  lawyer,  and  a  citizen  of  high  repute. 

We  are  informed  that  his  portrait,  as  well  as  that  of 
Governor  Houstoun,  with  the  family  plate  and  many 
papers  of  historical  value,  were  unfortunately  and  acci 
dentally  consumed  by  fire  in  Southwestern  Georgia, 
whither,  during  the  late  war  between  the  States,  they 
had  been  conveyed  in  the  hope  of  promoting  their 
safety. 


RICHARD   HOWLEY. 

WHEN  first  introduced  to  our  acquaintance,  this  mem 
ber  of  the  Continental  Congress  was  a  resident  of  St. 
John's  Parish,  where  he  practiced  law,  supplementing 
his  professional  labors  by  attention  to  a  small  rice  plan 
tation.  Upon  the  fall  of  Sunbury,  in  January,  1779, 
and  the  occupation  of  Southern  Georgia  by  the  King's 
forces,  he  removed  to  St.  Paul's  Parish,  where,  in  affili 
ation  with  George  Wells  and  others  opposed  to  the 
existing  Executive  Council,  he  called  a  convention, 
which,  at  Augusta,  resolved  itself  into  a  legislative 
body,  claimed  to  be  the  General  Assembly  of  Georgia, 
chose  William  Glascock  Speaker,  and  proceeded  to  elect 
George  Walton  Governor  of  the  young  and  distracted 
commonwealth. 

On  the  4th  of  January,  1780,  Mr.  Howley  was 
elected  Governor  of  Georgia.  Composed  largely  of  the 
friends  of  Walton  and  himself,  the  Assembly  which 
conferred  this  honor  severely  criticised  the  former 
Council,  and  accused  its  members  of  "exercising  powers 
and  authorities  unknown  to  and  subversive  of  the 
Constitution  and  laws  of  this  State."  It  even  went  so 
far  as  to  declare  that  "  said  Council  and  the  powers 
they  exercised  were  illegal  and  unconstitutional." 
Nevertheless,  within  a  month  this  Assembly,  which 
had  thus  pronounced  null  and  void  the  action  of  the 
former  Council,  and  denounced  it  as  lawless  in  concep 
tion  and  operation,  moved  by  the  exigency  of  the 


RICHARD  HOWLEY.  121 

period,  and  anticipating  it  might  happen  during  the 
progress  of  the  war  "  that  the  Ministers  of  Government 
of  this  State  might  not  be  able  to  do  or  transact  the 
business  of  the  State  within  the  limits  of  the  same," 
unanimously  resolved  "that  his  Honor  the  Governor, 
or,  in  his  absence,  the  President  and  Executive  Council, 
might  do  and  transact  all  and  every  business  of  govern 
ment  in  as  full,  ample,  and  authoritative  manner  in  any 
other  State  within  the  Confederation,  touching  and  re 
specting  of  this  State,  as  though  it  had  been  done  and 
transacted  within  the  limits  of  this  State."  Fortunately, 
in  the  judgment  of  Governor  Howley,  the  occasion  did 
not  arise  for  the  exercise  of  this  extraordinary  and  man 
ifestly  unauthorized  power. 

Informed  of  the  arrival  of  reinforcements  to  the 
British  troops  in  Savannah,  —  the  ultimate  destination 
of  which  was  not  then  well  ascertained,  —  the  Governor 
issued  a  stirring  proclamation,  "commanding  and  requir 
ing  the  people  to  stand  firm  to  their  duty,  and  exert 
themselves  in  support  and  defense  of  the  great  and 
glorious  independency  of  the  United  States ;  and  also 
to  remember  with  gratitude  to  Heaven  that  the  Al 
mighty  Ruler  of  human  affairs  hath  been  pleased  to 
raise  up  the  spirit  and  might  of  the  two  greatest 
powers  in  the  world  [France  and  Spain]  to  join  with 
them  and  oppose  and  destroy  the  persecutor  of  their 
liberties  and  immunities." 

General  Lincoln  was  censured  for  withdrawing  the 
Continental  troops  from  Georgia,  and  was  pronounced 
"answerable  for  all  the  consequences  which  might 
follow  that  unadvised  measure."  Governor  Howley 
was  instructed  to  concentrate  half  the  militia  of  the 
State  at  Augusta,  and  Colonel  John  Twiggs,  with  his 


122  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

command  and  as  many  volunteers  as  he  could  secure, 
was  ordered  to  take  post  at  that  point. 

Aware  of  the  defenseless  condition  of  this  town, 
"  which  might  be  surprised  by  twenty  men,"  and  deem 
ing  it  "unsafe  and  impolitic  for  the  Governor  and  Coun 
cil  to  remain  thus  exposed,"  the  Assembly  designated 
Heard's  Fort,  in  Wilkes  County,  as  a  suitable  "place  of 
meeting  for  transacting  the  business  of  the  government 
of  this  State  as  soon  after  leaving  Augusta  as  may  be." 

Responding  to  this  suggestion,  the  Governor  and 
Executive  Council  did,  on  the  5th  of  February,  adjourn 
to  Heard's  Fort,  which  thereupon  became  the  tempo 
rary  capital  of  the  State.  Brief  was  the  gubernatorial 
term  of  Governor  Howley.  He  soon  left  Georgia  to 
take  his  seat  in  the  Continental  Congress;  and  the 
Hon.  George  Wells  —  the  President  of  Council  —  and 
three  members  of  the  Board  were  announced  as  com 
petent  for  the  transaction  of  all  public  business.  Re- 
publican  Georgia  at  this  time  could  practically  claim 
the  full  allegiance  of  only  two  counties,  —  Richmond 
and  Wilkes,  —  and  its  condition  was  indeed  deplorable. 
Driven  from  Savannah  and  the  seaboard,  compelled  to 
evacuate  Augusta,  hemmed  in  by  hostile  Indians  on 
the  frontier,  confronted  by  British  Regulars  and  Tories, 
harassed  with  alarms,  surprised  by  ambuscades,  and 
pinched  with  want,  the  patriots  were  engaged  in  a 
long  and  bitter  struggle  for  simple  existence,  with 
scarcely  a  ray  of  hope  to  light  up  the  future. 

So  depreciated  was  the  paper  money  of  the  State 
that  Governor  Howley,  in  making  his  way  to  Congress, 
in  the  language  of  Captain  McCall,  dealt  it  out  by  the 
quire  for  a  night's  lodging  for  himself  and  party;  "and 
if  the  fare  was  anything  extraordinary,  the  landlord 
was  compensated  with  two  quires." 


RICHARD   ROWLEY.  123 

At  this  darkest  epoch,  when  English  arms  had  gained 
the  ascendency  not  only  in  Georgia  but  also  in  South 
Carolina,  when  the  principal  towns  of  those  States  were 
in  the  possession  of  the  enemy  and  the  territory  on  both 
sides  of  the  Savannah  River  was  largely  subservient  to 
British  rule,  it  was  noised  abroad  that  a  new  commis 
sion  would  soon  issue  from  the  Court  of  St.  James  for 
the  purpose  of  again  sounding  the  temper  of  America 
upon  the  subject  of  a  pacification.  It  was  boldly  hinted 
that  in  any  negotiations  Georgia,  and  perhaps  South 
Carolina,  would  not  be  recognized  as  parts  of  the  Amer 
ican  Union,  but  that  they  would  be  excluded,  on  the 
ground  that  they  "  had  been  again  colonized  to  Eng 
land  by  new  conquest."  In  Europe  the  uti  possidetis 
was  much  talked  of  as  "  a  probable  basis  for  the  antici 
pated  peace."  Against  this  doctrine  and  its  practical 
application  George  Walton,  William  Few,  and  Richard 
Howley  —  then  representing  Georgia  in  the  Continen 
tal  Congress  —  prepared  and  published  a  manly  and 
earnest  protest,1  which  was  not  without  its  influence. 

Upon  the  conclusion  of  peace  Governor  Howley 
returned  to  his  home  in  Liberty  County,  where  he 
resumed  the  practice  of  his  profession.  Prior  to  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  Savannah,  Georgia,  in  Decem 
ber,  1784,  he  had  become  a  resident  of  that  town. 
His  will  —  now  of  file  in  the  Ordinary's  Office  of 
Chatham  County  —  bears  date  on  the  6th  of  that 
month,  and  was  probated  on  the  4th  of  January,  1785. 

1  Observations  upon  the  Effects  of  Certain  Late  Political  Suggestions  by  the 
Delegates  of  Georgia,  pp.  10.  Philadelphia,  MDCCLXXXI. 


NOBLE   WYMBERLEY  JONES. 

THIS  son  of  Colonel  Noble  Jones,  a  trusted  friend 
and  early  companion  of  Oglethorpe, —  who,  as  military 
officer,  surveyor,  registrar,  member  of  the  Royal  Coun 
cil,  and  treasurer  of  the  Province  of  Georgia,  during  a 
long  life  proved  himself  a  valuable  and  an  influential 
citizen,  and  never  once  wavered  in  his  allegiance  to  the 
Crown,  —  was  born  near  London,  England,  in  1723. 

Such  was  the  respect  and  so  great  was  the  affection 
entertained  for  him  by  his  distinguished  and  devoted 
son  that,  when  first  elected  a  member  from  Georgia  of 
the  Continental  Congress,  Noble  W.  Jones,  in  deference 
to  the  entreaties  of  his  aged  father,  then  sorely  per 
plexed  and  trembling  upon  the  verge  of  the  grave,  put 
aside  for  the  time  being  this  important  trust,  that  he 
might,  with  filial  love,  minister  to  the  infirmities  and 
soothe  the  last  hours  of  his  dying  parent. 

Coming  to  Georgia  at  a  tender  age,  he  secured  a 
cadet's  appointment  in  Oglethorpe's  regiment.  Having 
in  time  studied  medicine  and  received  his  degree,  he 
was  promoted  to  a  first  lieutenancy,  and,  with  the  rank 
and  pay  of  surgeon,  was  assigned  to  a  company  of 
Rangers  in  the  pay  of  the  Crown.  After  a  few  years 
passed  in  military  service,  he  resigned  from  the  army, 
and  entered  upon  the  practice  of  his  profession  in 
Savannah.  He  rose  rapidly  in  the  public  esteem,  as 
a  citizen  and  as  a  physician  winning  golden  opinions 
from  the  community.  No  idle  spectator  of  passing 


NOBLE   WYMBERLEY  JONES.  125 

events,  or  indifferent  to  political  preferment,  he  was  in 
1768  elected  Speaker  of  the  Lower  House  of  Assembly 
of  the  Province  of  Georgia.  By  that  body  he  was 
placed  upon  a  committee  to  correspond  with  Dr.  Ben 
jamin  Franklin  —  who  had  been  appointed  an  agent 
"  to  represent,  solicit,  and  transact  the  affairs  of  the 
Colony  of  Georgia  in  Great  Britain  "  —  and  give  such 
instructions  as  might  appear  necessary  for  the  public 
welfare.  Reelected  to  this  position  in  1770,  so  pro 
nounced  and  influential  had  become  his  views  and  con 
duct  in  opposition  to  the  objectionable  and  oppressive 
acts  of  Parliament  and  in  support  of  American  ideas 
that  Governor  Wright,  exercising  the  power  vested  in 
him,  refused  to  sanction  this  choice,  and  ordered  the 
House  to  select  another  Speaker. 

Incensed  at  this  affront  offered  to  one  who  has  been 
aptly  termed  a  morning  star  of  liberty  in  Georgia,  and 
resenting  what  they  deemed  an  unwarrantable  interfer 
ence  with  the  power  resting  solely  with  them  to  nomi 
nate  and  judge  of  the  qualification  of  their  own  presid 
ing  officer,  the  members  of  the  House  passed  resolutions 
complimentary  to  Dr.  Jones,  and  declared  "that  the 
sense  and  approbation  this  House  entertain  of  his  con 
duct  can  never  be  lessened  by  any  slight  cast  upon  him 
in  opposition  to  the  unanimous  voice  of  the  Commons 
House  of  Assembly  in  particular  and  the  Province  in 
general."  Criticising  the  action  of  the  Executive,  they 
resolved  "  that  this  rejection  by  the  Governor  of  a 
Speaker  unanimously  elected  was  a  high  breach  of 
the  privileges  of  the  House,  and  tended  to  subvert  the 
most  valuable  rights  and  liberties  of  the  people  and 
their  representatives."  This  bold  assertion  the  Council 
was  pleased  to  stigmatize  as  "  a  most  indecent  and 


126  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

insolent  denial  of  his  Majesty's  authority,"  and  the 
Governor,  wielding  the  only  punitive  weapon  at  com 
mand,  dissolved  the  Assembly  on  .the  22d  of  February, 
1770. 

Adhering  to  the  preference  shown  on  a  former  occa 
sion,  and  resolved  to  rebuke  the  late  interference  on 
the  part  of  the  Executive,  at  the  first  session  of  the 
eighth  General  Assembly  of  the  Province,  convened  at 
Savannah  on  the  21st  of  April,  1772,  the  Commons 
House  perfected  its  organization  by  electing  Dr.  Jones 
as  its  Speaker.  Officially  informed  of  this  action,  the 
Hon.  James  Habersham,  who  during  the  absence  of  Sir 
James  Wright  was  occupying  the  gubernatorial  chair, 
responded :  "  I  have  his  Majesty's  commands  to  put  a 
negative  upon  the  Speaker  now  elected  by  the  Com 
mons  House,  which  I  accordingly  do ;  and  desire  that 
you  will  inform  the  House  that  I  direct  them  to  pro 
ceed  to  a  new  choice  of  Speaker." 

Despite  this  inhibition,  and  in  direct  opposition  to 
the  injunction  of  the  Executive,  thrice  did  the  House 
adhere  to  its  selection ;  and  it  was  only  by  dissolving 
the  Assembly  that  the  Governor  was  able  to  carry  his 
point. 

In  a  long  letter  to  the  Earl  of  Hillsborough,  dated 
the  30th  of  April,  1772,  Governor  Habersham  dwells 
upon  the  injurious  effects  of  this  dissolution  of  the  As 
sembly,  and  yet  demonstrates  its  necessity  in  obedience 
to  existing  instructions  from  the  Crown.  He  also  com 
ments  freely  upon  the  conduct  of  Dr.  Jones  and  his 
friends  in  "opposing  the  public  business"  under  the 
"specious  pretence  of  Liberty  and  Privilege."  "My 
Lord,"  he  continues,  "  it  is  very  painful  to  me  to  say  or 
even  to  insinuate  a  disrespectful  word  of  any  one ;  arid 


NOBLE   WYMBERLEY  JONES.  127 

every  person  who  knows  me  will  acknowledge  that  it 
is  contrary  to  my  disposition  to  dip  my  pen  in  gall,  but 
I  cannot  help  considering  Mr.  Jones's  conduct  for  some 
time  past  in  opposing  Public  Business  as  very  ungrate 
ful  and  unworthy  a  good  man,  as  his  family  have  reaped 
more  advantages  from  Government  than  any  I  know  in 
this  Province.  He  was  several  years  First  Lieutenant 
and  Surgeon  of  a  company  of  Rangers  paid  by  the 
Crown,  and  in  these  capacities  met  with  great  indul 
gence.  His  father  is  the  King's  Treasurer,  and,  if  I  am 
not  mistaken,  reaps  very  considerable  emoluments  from 
it." 

The  truth  is,  while  Governor  Habersham  was  loyally 
seeking  to  carry  out  the  instructions  of  the  King  and 
to  support  the  authority  of  Parliament,  Dr.  Jones  was 
in  active  sympathy  with  those  who  esteemed  taxation 
without  representation  as  wholly  unauthorized,  and  who 
were  very  jealous  in  the  maintenance  of  what  they 
regarded  as  the  reserved  rights  of  the  colonists  and  the 
privileges  of  provincial  legislatures.  Both  were  true 
men,  but  they  viewed  the  situation  from  different 
standpoints.  An  honored  servant  of  the  Crown,  Mr. 
Habersham  was  confronted  with  peculiar  duties  and 
stringent  oaths.  Dr.  Jones,  on  the  contrary,  as  a  rep 
resentative  elected  by  the  people,  was  free  to  give 
expression  to  his  own  and  the  sentiments  of  his  con 
stituents  at  an  epoch  when  American  liberty  was  being 
freely  discussed  and  proclaimed.  Of  each  it  may  be 
fairly  said  he  was  pure  in  purpose,  wise  in  counsel,  and 
fearless  in  action ;  enjoying  in  a  conspicuous  degree 
the  esteem  and  the  affection  of  the  community.  But 
their  political  paths  henceforward  diverged.  The  one 
clave  to  the  Crown  and  shared  its  fortunes,  while  the 


128  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

other  cast  his  lot  with  the  Kevolutionists,  and  became 
a  favorite  leader  of  the  patriot  band. 

With  Archibald  Bulloch,  John  Houstoun,  and  John 
"Walton,  he  issued  the  public  call  on  the  20th  of  July, 

1774,  which  convened  the  citizens  of  Georgia  at  the 
Watch    House    in    Savannah.      The    resolutions    then 
adopted  and  the  measures  there  inaugurated,  gather 
ing  potency  and  allegiance  as  they  were  discussed  and 
comprehended,  proved  effective  in  unifying  public  sen 
timent  in  support  of  the  plans  suggested  by  the  Lib 
erty  party,  and  paved  the  way  for  sundering  the  ties 
which  bound  the  Province  to  the  British  Empire.     Of 
the  committees  then  raised  to  conduct  the  public  af 
fairs  of  the  Colony,  and  to  minister  to  the  relief  of 
the  "  suffering  poor  "  of  Boston,  he  was  an  active  mem 
ber. 

Noble  Wymberley  Jones,  Archibald  Bulloch,  and  John 
Houstoun,  elected  delegates  to  the  Continental  Con 
gress  by  a  convention  of  patriots  assembled  in  Savan 
nah  on  the  8th  of  December,  1774,  and  again  by  the 
Provincial  Congress  of  January,  1775,  —  concluding 
very  properly  that,  inasmuch  as  they  had  been  nomi 
nated  by  a  political  convocation  which  in  reality  em 
braced  only  four  of  the  twelve  parishes  then  constitut 
ing  the  Province  of  Georgia,  they  could  not  justly  be 
regarded  as  representatives  of  the  entire  Colony,  and 
yet  persuaded  that  the  will  of  those  who  commissioned 
them  should  be  formally  made  known  and  the  mind  of 
Georgia  be  fairly  interpreted,  —  on  the  6th  of  April, 

1775,  addressed  the  following  communication  to  the 
President  of  the  Continental  Congress  :  — 

«Sm,  —  The  unworthy  part  which  the  Province  of 
Georgia  has  acted  in  the  great  and  general  contest 


NOBLE  WYMBERLEY  JONES.  129 

leaves  room  to  expect  little  less  than  the  censure  or 
even  indignation  of  every  virtuous  man  in  America. 
Although,  on  the  one  hand,  we  feel  the  justice  of  such 
a  consequence  with  respect  to  the  Province  in  general, 
yet,  on  the  other,  we  claim  an  exemption  from  it  in 
favour  of  some  individuals  who  wished  a  better  conduct. 
Permit  us,  therefore,  in  behalf  of  ourselves  and  many 
others,  our  fellow  citizens,  warmly  attached  to  the 
cause,  to  lay  before  the  respectable  body  over  which 
you  preside  a  few  facts  which,  we  trust,  will  not  only 
acquit  us  of  supineness,  but  also  render  our  conduct  to 
be  approved  by  all  candid  and  dispassionate  men. 

"At  the  time  the  late  Congress  did  this  Province 
the  honour  to  transmit  to  it  an  extract  from  their  pro 
ceedings,  enclosed  in  a  friendly  letter  from  the  Honour 
able  Mr.  Middleton,  the  sense  and  disposition  of  the 
people  in  general  seemed  to  fluctuate  between  liberty 
and  convenience.  In  order  to  bring  on  a  determina 
tion  respecting  the  measures  recommended,  a  few  well- 
affected  persons  in  Savannah,  by  public  advertisement 
in  the  Gazette,  requested  a  meeting  of  all  the  parishes 
and  districts,  by  delegates  or  representatives,  in  Pro 
vincial  Congress.  On  the  day  appointed  for  this  meet 
ing,  with  concern  they  found  that  only  five  out  of 
twelve  parishes  to  which  they  had  particularly  wrote 
had  nominated  and  sent  down  delegates ;  and  even 
some  of  these  five  had  laid  their  representatives  under 
injunctions  as  to  the  form  of  an  association.  Under 
these  circumstances  those  who  met  saw  themselves 
a  good  deal  embarrassed.  However,  one  expedient 
seemed  still  to  present  itself.  The  House  of  Assembly 
was  then  sitting,  and  it  was  hoped  there  would  be  no 
doubt  of  a  majority  in  favour  of  American  freedom. 
9 


130  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

The  plan,  therefore,  was  to  go  through  with  what 
business  they  could  in  Provincial  Congress,  and  then, 
with  a  short  address,  present  the  same  to  the  House  of 
Assembly,  who,  it  was  hoped,  would  by  votes  in  a  few 
minutes  and  before  prerogative  should  interfere,  make 
it  the  act  of  the  whole  Province.  Accordingly,  the 
Congress  framed  and  agreed  to  such  an  association, 
and  did  such  other  business  as  appeared  practicable 
with  the  people,  and  had  the  whole  just  ready  to  be 
presented,  when  the  Governor,  either  treacherously 
informed  or  shrewdly  suspecting  the  step,  put  an  end 
to  the  session.  What  then  could  the  Congress  do?  On 
the  one  hand,  truth  forbid  them  to  call  their  proceedings 
the  voice  of  the  Province,  there  being  but  five1  out  of 
twelve  parishes  concerned ;  and  on  the  other,  they 
wanted  strength  sufficient  to  enforce  them  on  the  prin 
ciple  of  necessity,  to  which  all  ought  for  a  time  to  sub 
mit.  They  found  the  inhabitants  of  Savannah  not 
likely  soon  to  give  matters  a  favourable  turn.  The 
importers  were  mostly  against  any  interruption,  and 
the  consumers  very  much  divided.  There  were  some 
of  the  latter  virtuously  for  the  measures ;  others  stren 
uously  against  them ;  but  more  who  called  themselves 
neutrals  than  either.  Thus  situated,  there  appeared 
nothing  before  us  but  the  alternative  of  either  immedi 
ately  commencing  a  civil  wrar  among  ourselves,  or  else 
of  patiently  waiting  for  the  measures  to  be  recom 
mended  by  the  General  Congress. 

"  Among  a  powerful  people,  provided  with  men, 
money,  and  conveniences,  and  by  whose  conduct 
others  were  to  be  regulated,  the  former  would  cer 
tainly  be  the  resolution  that  would  suggest  itself  to 

1  And  one  of  these,  St.  Paul,  practically  withdrew. 


NOBLE    WYMBERLEY   JONES.  131 

every  man  removed  from  the  condition  of  a  coward  ; 
but  in  a  small  community  like  that  of  Savannah 
(whose  members  are  mostly  in  their  first  advance 
towards  wealth  and  independence,  destitute  of  even 
the  necessaries  of  life  within  themselves,  and  from 
whose  junction  or  silence  so  little  would  be  added  or 
lost  to  the  general  cause),  the  latter  presented  itself 
as  the  most  eligible  plan,  and  was  adopted  by  the 
people.  Party  disputes  and  animosities  have  occasion 
ally  prevailed,  and  show  that  the  spirit  of  freedom  is 
not  extinguished,  but  only  restrained  for  a  time  till  an 
opportunity  shall  offer  for  calling  it  forth. 

"  The  Congress  convened  at  Savannah  did  us  the 
honour  of  choosing  us  delegates  to  meet  your  respec 
table  body  at  Philadelphia  on  the  tenth  of  next  month. 
We  were  sensible  of  the  honour  and  weight  of  the 
appointment,  and  would  gladly  have  rendered  our 
country  any  service  our  poor  abilities  would  have 
admitted  of;  but,  alas !  with  what  face  could  we  have 
appeared  for  a  Province  whose  inhabitants  had  refused 
to  sacrifice  the  most  trifling  advantages  to  the  public 
cause,  and  in  whose  behalf  we  did  not  think  we  could 
safely  pledge  ourselves  for  the  execution  of  any  one 
measure  whatsoever  ? 

"  We  do  not  mean  to  insinuate  that  those  who 
appointed  us  would  prove  apostates  or  desert  their 
opinions,  but  that  the  tide  of  opposition  wras  great ; 
that  all  the  strength  and  virtue  of  these  our  friends 
might  be  sufficient  for  the  purpose.  We  very  early 
saw  the  difficulties  that  would  here  occur,  and  there 
fore  repeatedly  and  constantly  requested  the  people  to 
proceed  to  the  choice  of  other  delegates  in  our  stead ; 
but  this  they  refused  to  do.  We  beg,  sir,  you  will 


132  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

view  our  reasons  for  not  attending  in  a  liberal  point  of 
light.  Be  pleased  to  make  the  most  favourable  repre 
sentation  of  them  to  the  Honourable  the  Members  of 
the  Congress.  We  believe  we  may  take  upon  our 
selves  to  say,  notwithstanding  all  that  has  passed, 
there  are  still  men  in  Georgia  who,  when  an  occasion 
shall  require,  will  be  ready  to  evince  a  steady,  reli 
gious,  and  manly  attachment  to  the  liberties  of  Amer 
ica.  For  the  consolation  of  these,  they  find  themselves 
in  the  neighborhood  of  a  Province  whose  virtue  and 
magnanimity  must  and  will  do  lasting  honour  to  the 
cause,  and  in  whose  fate  they  seem  disposed  freely  to 
involve  their  own. 

"  We  have  the  honour  to  be,  sir,  your  most  obedient 
and  very  humble  servants, 

"  NOBLE  WYMBERLEY  JONES. 

"ARCHIBALD  BULLOCH. 

"JOHN    HOUSTOUN." 

The  news  of  the  affairs  at  Lexington  and  Concord 
reached  Savannah  on  the  10th  of  May,  and  caused  the 
wildest  excitement.  The  thunders  of  the  19th  of  April 
aroused  the  Georgia  parishes  from  their  lethargy,  and 
multiplied  patriots  within  their  borders. 

The  magazine  at  the  eastern  extremity  of  Savannah 
—  built  of  brick  and  sunk  some  twelve  feet  under 
ground  —  contained  a  considerable  amount  of  ammuni 
tion.  So  substantial  was  this  structure,  that  Governor 
Wright  deemed  it  unnecessary  to  post  a  guard  for  its 
protection.  The  excited  Revolutionists  all  over  the 
land  cried  aloud  for  '  powder.  Impressed  with  the 
importance  of  securing  the  contents  of  this  magazine, 
quietly  assembling  at  the  residence  of  Dr.  Jones,  and 


NOBLE   WYMBERLEY  JONES.  133 

there  hastily  arranging  a  plan  of  operations,  Dr.  Noble 
W.  Jones,  Joseph  Habersham,  Edward  Telfair,  William 
Gibbons,  Joseph  Clay,  John  Milledge,  and  some  other 
gentlemen,  —  most  of  them  members  of  the  Council  of 
Safety,  and  all  zealous  in  the  cause  of  American  lib 
erty,  —  at  a  late  hour  on  the  night  of  the  llth  of  May, 
1775,  broke  open  the  magazine  and  removed  there 
from  some  six  hundred  pounds  of  powder,  —  a  portion 
of  which  was  sent  to  Beaufort,  South  Carolina,  for  safe 
keeping,  and  the  rest  was  concealed  in  the  garrets  and 
cellars  of  the  houses  of  the  captors.  Although  Gov 
ernor  Wright  issued  a  proclamation  offering  a  reward 
of  .£150  sterling  for  the  apprehension  of  the  offenders, 
it  failed  to  elicit  any  information,  although  the  actors 
in  the  affair  are  said  to  have  been  well  known  in  the 
community.  The  popular  heart  was  too  deeply  stirred, 
and  the  "Sons  of  Liberty"  were  too  potent  to  tolerate 
any  hindrance  or  annoyance  at  the  hands  of  Royalist 
informers.  The  tradition  lives,  and  is  generally  cred 
ited,  that  some  of  the  powder  thus  obtained  was  for 
warded  to  Cambridge,  and  was  actually  expended  by 
the  patriots  in  the  memorable  battle  of  Bunker  Hill. 

On  the  22d  of  June,  1775,  in  response  to  a  call 
signed  by  Dr.  Jones,  Archibald  Bulloch,  John  Hous- 
toun,  and  George  Walton,  many  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  town  and  district  of  Savannah  assembled  at  the 
Liberty  Pole  in  Savannah,  and  elected  a  Council  of 
Safety,  with  instructions  to  maintain  an  active  corre 
spondence  with  the  Continental  Congress,  and  with 
Councils  of  Safety  both  in  Georgia  and  in  other  Prov 
inces,  with  a  view  to  bringing  about  a  union  of  Geor 
gia  with  her  sister  Colonies  in  the  cause  of  freedom. 

Of  the  Provincial  Congress  which  assembled  in  Sa- 


134          BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

vannah  on  the  4th  of  July,  1775,  Dr.  Jones  was  a 
member,  accredited  from  the  "  Town  and  District  of 
Savannah." 

In  this  Congress  every  parish  was  represented.  Dr. 
Jones  was  of  the  committee  then  selected  to  frame  a 
suitable  address  to  the  inhabitants  of  Georgia,  advising 
them  of  the  true  nature  of  the  disputes  existing  be 
tween  Great  Britain  and  her  American  Colonies,  and 
informing  them  of  the  deliberations  and  conclusions  of 
the  present  Congress.  He  was  also  chosen,  with  John 
Houstoun,  Archibald  Bulloch,  Reverend  Dr.  Zubly,  and 
Dr.  Lyman  Hall,  to  represent  Georgia  in  the  Conti 
nental  Congress.  Georgia  was  now  in  acknowledged 
sympathy  with  her  sisters,  and  took  her  place,  by 
regular  representation,  in  the  National  Assembly.  Of 
the  Council  of  Safety  which  ordered  the  arrest  of  Gov 
ernor  Wright,  Dr.  Jones  was  a  member. 

Late  in  1776  the  General  Assembly  of  South  Caro 
lina  adopted  a  resolution  to  the  effect  that  a  union 
between  that  State  and  Georgia  would  promote  the 
general  strength,  wealth,  and  dignity,  and  insure  mu 
tual  liberty,  independence,  and  safety.  Commission 
ers  —  of  whom  the  Honorable  William  Henry  Drayton 
appears  to  have  been  the  chairman,  as  he  certainly 
was  the  spokesman  —  were  sent  to  Savannah  to  treat 
of  the  matter,  and  to  secure  Georgia's  acquiescence  in 
a  project  which,  if  carried  into  effect,  would  practically 
have  put  an  end  to  her  political  existence.  The  mem 
bers  of  the  Council  of  Safety  listened  with  patience 
and  courtesy  to  the  arguments  and  persuasions  of  the 
Carolina  Commissioners,  but  rejected  the  proffered 
union.  President  Gwinnett,  Dr.  Jones,  and  all  the 
leading  republican  spirits  were  radically  opposed  to 


NOBLE   WYMBERLEY  JONES.  135 

the  scheme  on  grounds  both  material  and  constitu 
tional  ;  and  so  the  effort  of  South  Carolina  to  swallow 
up  Georgia  signally  miscarried. 

Upon  the  capture  of  Savannah  in  December,  1778, 
Dr.  Jones  removed  to  Charles-Town,  South  Carolina. 
There,  upon  the  fall  of  that  city  in  1780,  he  was  taken 
prisoner  by  the  British  and  sent  in  captivity  to  St.  Au 
gustine,  Florida.  Exchanged  in  July,  1781,  he  went 
to  Philadelphia,  and  there  entered  upon  the  practice 
of  his  profession.  While  a  resident  of  that  city,  he 
was,  by  the  General  Assembly  of  Georgia,  reflected  to 
the  Continental  Congress. 

Shortly  after  its  evacuation  by  the  King's  forces  in 
the  summer  of  1782,  Dr.  Jones  returned  to  Savannah, 
repaired  the  desolations  which  war  had  wrought  in  his 
comfortable  home,  and  resumed  his  professional  labors. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  committee  which  received 
and  saluted  President  Washington  with  an  address  of 
welcome  upon  the  occasion  of  his  visit  to  Savannah 
in  1791.  Over  the  Constitutional  Convention  which, 
at  Louisville,  Jefferson  County,  in  May,  1795,  amended 
the  Constitution  of  Georgia,  Dr.  Noble  Wymberley 
Jones  presided.  In  1804  he  was  President  of  the 
Georgia  Medical  Society.  Preserving  his  intellectual 
and  physical  powers  in  a  wonderful  degree,  he  died  in 
Savannah  on  the  9th  of  January,  1805,1  honored  by 
the  community  as  an  accomplished  gentleman,  an 
influential  citizen,  a  skillful  physician,  and  a  sterling 
patriot. 

To  the  refined  taste  and  liberality  of  his  grandson, 
the  late  George  Wymberley  Jones  De  Kenne,  M.  D., 

1  His  will  was  probated  on  the  19th  of  February,  1807,  and  remains  of 
file  in  the  office  of  the  Ordinary  of  Chatham  County,  in  Savannah. 


136  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

of  Savannah,  a  gentleman  of  broad  education  (enriched 
by  study,  travel,  and  observation),  of  large  wealth,  ex 
quisite  culture,  and  thoroughly  imbued  with  a  love  for 
Georgia  and  all  her  traditions,  are  we  indebted,  among 
other  literary  legacies,  for  the  series  of  Wormsloe 
Quartos,  esteemed  alike  for  their  intrinsic  value,  ad 
mirable  manufacture,  and  extreme  rarity. 

Since  his  death  his  widow  —  manifesting  like  gener 
ous  interest  in  everything  appertaining  to  the  early 
history  of  Georgia,  and  as  a  tribute  to  the  memory  of 
her  husband  —  has  borne  the  charge  of  two  other 
beautiful  and  expensive  Wormsloe  Quartos,  edited  by 
the  writer,  one  entitled  Acts  passed  by  the  General  As 
sembly  of  the  Colony  of  Georgia,  1755  toll '74.  Now  first 
printed.  Wormsloe.  MDCCCLXXXI ;  and  the  other, 
A  Journal  of  the  Transactions  of  the  Trustees  for  estab 
lishing  the  Colony  of  Georgia  in  America,  by  the  R*  Honble 
John,  Earl  of  Egmont,  Viscount  Perceval  of  Canturk, 
Baron  Perceval  of  Burton,  one  of  his  Majesty's  Most 
Privy  Council  in  the  Kingdom  of  Ireland,  and  first  Presi 
dent  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Colony  of  Georgia. 
Now  first  printed.  Wormsloe.  MDCCCLXXXVI.  In 
each  case  the  edition  was  limited  to  forty-nine  copies. 


EDWARD    LANGWORTHY. 

THIS  member  of  the  Continental  Congress  was  born 
in  Savannah,  Georgia,  of  obscure  parentage.  Left  an 
orphan  at  a  tender  age,  he  was  indebted  for  his  main 
tenance  and  education  to  that  charitable  institution 
founded  and  long  supported  by  the  Reverend  George 
Whitefield,  and  known  as  the  Bethesda  Orphan  House. 
At  a  subsequent  period  he  became  a  teacher  in  that 
school.  His  earliest  public  appearance,  so  far  as  we 
can  ascertain,  was  as  one  of  the  signers  of  a  card 
which  was  published  in  the  Georgia  Gazette,  on  the 
7th  of  September,  1774,  criticising  certain  patriotic 
resolutions  adopted  at  a  convocation  of  citizens  held 
on  the  10th  of  the  preceding  month,  and  protesting 
against  their  being  accepted  as  reflecting  the  senti 
ments  of  a  majority  of  the  inhabitants  of  Georgia.  In 
that  card  he  appears  as  in  full  sympathy  with  the 
Royalists  in  the  Province.  That  his  political  views 
underwent  a  sudden  and  violent  change  may  be  fairly 
inferred  from  the  fact  that  in  the  following  year  he 
became  the  efficient  Secretary  of  the  Republican  Coun 
cil  of  Safety.  In  1777  he  was  elected  a  delegate  from 
Georgia  to  the  Continental  Congress.  A  similar  honor 
was  conferred  upon  him  during  the  following  year, 
when,  with  his  confreres  George  Walton  and  Edward 
Telfair,  he  signed  the  Articles  of  Confederation.  He 
at  one  time  held  the  position  of  Justice  of  the  Peace 
for  the  County  of  Chatham. 


138  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Not  very  long  after  the  conclusion  of  peace  between 
Great  Britain  and  the  United  Colonies,  he  removed 
from  Savannah  and  located  in  Maryland.  He  there 
formed  the  design  of  writing  a  history  of  Georgia.  Of 
fair  attainments,  and  possessing  a  personal  acquaint 
ance  with  many  of  the  prominent  persons  and  leading 
events  appertaining  to  Georgia  during  the  latter  half 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  he  was  at  least  measurably 
qualified  for  the  task.  He  seems  to  have  addressed 
himself  with  energy  to  the  collection  of  materials 
requisite  for  the  undertaking.  It  would  appear,  from 
a  prospectus  printed  in  the  Georgia  Gazette,  that  the 
history  was  actually  written,  and  that  the  manuscript 
was  ready  to  be  rendered  into  type.  One  of  his  letters 
lies  before  us,  dated  at  Elkton,  Maryland,  March  1, 
1791,  and  addressed  to  Seaborn  Jones,  Esq.,  Augusta, 
Georgia,  in  which  Mr.  Langworthy  says :  "  Inclosed 
you  will  receive  a  Subscription  Paper  for  '  A  Political 
History  of  the  State  of  Georgia,'  &c.,  for  which  I  must 
request  you  to  take  in  subscriptions,  and  I  flatter 
myself  you  will  succeed  therein,  as  the  design  is  a 
well-meant  attempt  to  rescue  the  patriotic  exertions  of 
our  Countrymen  from  Oblivion  and  the  Misrepresenta 
tion  of  some  Writers  of  American  History. 

"  What  monies  you  will  receive  on  this  occasion  you 
will  please  to  pay  to  Mr.  James  Johnston,  Printer  at 
Savannah,  whose  receipt  will  be  your  discharge." 

Suitable  encouragement,  however,  not  having  been 
obtained,  the  contemplated  publication  was  never  made. 
Mr.  Langworthy  died  at  Elkton,  Maryland,  near  the 
close  of  the  last  century,  and  all  efforts  to  recover 
both  his  manuscript  and  the  supporting  documents 
which  he  had  amassed  have  thus  far  proved  abortive. 


LACHLAN  MCINTOSH. 

To  the  Continental  Army  Georgia  furnished  only 
two  officers  who  attained  the  rank  of  Brigadier-Gen 
eral.  They  were  Lachlan  Mclntosh  and  Samuel  El- 
bert.  Both  were  excellent  soldiers,  sterling  patriots, 
and  influential  citizens.  Their  services,  alike  in  peace 
and  in  war,  were  held  in  high  repute.  It  is  of  the 
former  of  them  that  we  would  speak. 

Born  near  Raits,  in  Badenoch,  Scotland,  on  the  17th 
of  March,  1725,  when  only  eleven  years  of  age  he 
accompanied  his  father,  John  More  Mclntosh,  to  Geor 
gia.  Commissioned  by  the  Trustees  for  the  establish 
ment  of  the  Colony  of  Georgia  in  America,  Lieutenant 
Hugh  MacKay,  in  1735,  accepted  and  enrolled  at  Inver 
ness  one  hundred  and  thirty  Highlanders,  with  fifty 
women  and  children.  The  men  were  of  good  charac 
ter,  and  were  selected  for  their  military  qualities. 
Many  of  them  came  from  the  Glen  of  Stralbdean, 
and  were  commanded  by  officers  most  respectably  con 
nected  in  the  Highlands.  John  More  Mclntosh  was 
the  head  of  the  Borlam  branch  of  the  clan  Mclntosh. 
Conveyed  on  board  the  Prince  of  Wales,  Captain 
George  D  unbar,  these  sturdy  immigrants  set  sail  for 
Georgia  on  the  18th  of  October,  1735,  and  entered 
the  mouth  of  the  Savannah  River  early  in  the  follow 
ing  January.  Shortly  afterwards,  accompanied  by  a 
minister  of  their  own  selection,  —  the  Reverend  John 
McLeod,  a  native  of  the  Isle  of  Skye,  —  these  High- 


140  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

landers  were  transported  in  periaguas  to  the  south 
ward.  Ascending  the  Alatamaha  River  to  a  point  on 
the  left  bank  of  that  stream  about  sixteen  miles  above 
St.  Simon's  Island,  they  there  landed,  and  formed  a 
permanent  settlement  which  they  named  "  New  In 
verness."  Here  they  erected  a  fort,  mounted  four 
pieces  of  cannon,  built  a  guard-house,  a  store,  and  a 
chapel,  and  constructed  dwellings  for  their  accommo 
dation.  These  Scots  were  a  brave,  hardy  race, — just 
the  men  to  occupy  this  advanced  post  and  defend  the 
southern  confines  of  the  Colony.  "  In  their  plaids,  and 
with  their  broadswords,  targets,  and  firearms,  they 
presented  a  most  manly  appearance."  Most  valuable 
was  the  military  service  rendered  by  these  Highland 
ers  during  the  wars  between  the  Georgia  colonists  and 
the  Spaniards  in  Florida.  John  More  Mclntosh  was  ap 
pointed  by  Oglethorpe  commandant  of  New  Inverness. 
When,  in  1740,  General  Oglethorpe  invaded  Florida 
and  attempted  the  reduction  of  St.  Augustine,  he  was 
accompanied  by  Captain  Mclntosh  and  his  Highland 
ers.  Unfortunately,  although  they  "  fought  like  lions," 
and  u  made  such  havoc  with  their  broadswords  as  the 
Spaniards  cannot  easily  forget,"  they  were  surprised 
and  dispersed  with  great  loss  at  Fort  Moosa.  Captain 
Mclntosh  was  captured  and  sent  as  a  prisoner  to  Spain, 
where  he  was  detained  for  several  years.  When  re 
leased,  he  returned  to  Georgia  enfeebled  in  constitu 
tion.  He  did  not  long  survive  the  privations  which 
he  had  endured. 

Lachlan  Mclntosh,  while  still  a  lad,  was  enrolled  by 
General  Oglethorpe  as  a  cadet  in  his  regiment.  Amid 
the  distractions  of  the  period,  and  remembering  the 
limited  means  then  afforded  for  acquiring  an  education 


LACHLAN  McINTOSH.  141 

in  Georgia,  as  may  be  well  imagined,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  enjoyed  but  small  opportunity  for  consec 
utive  study  and  intellectual  improvement.  And  yet 
we  are  told  that  his  mother  was  most  earnest  in  im 
parting  the  rudiments  of  an  English  education  ;  and 
that,  under  the  patronage  of  General  Oglethorpe, 
young  Mclntosh  was  instructed  in  mathematics,  and 
in  other  branches  of  knowledge  deemed  specially  ne 
cessary  for  a  military  training. 

At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  went  to  Charles-Town, 
and  was  there  so  fortunate  as  to  enlist  the  friendly 
aid  of  the  Honorable  Henry  Laurens,  and  to  secure 
employment  in  his  counting  room.  So  kind  was  that 
gentleman  to  him,  that  during  his  residence  in  that 
city  he  remained  an  inmate  of  his  family.  Association 
with  one  so  polite,  refined,  and  accomplished,  proved 
of  great  benefit  to  young  Mclntosh,  and  materially 
conduced  to  his  intellectual  and  social  advancement. 
At  this  period  of  his  life  he  is  described  as  "  exhibiting 
a  fine,  manly  appearance,  and  possessing  a  cairn,  firm 
temper." 

Seemingly  wearied  with  commercial  engagements, 
when  scarcely  of  age  he  took  leave  of  his  distinguished 
friend  and  patron  and  returned  to  his  home  at  New 
Inverness,  where  he  married,  and  adopted  the  calling 
of  a  surveyor.  There  was  ample  field  for  employment, 
and  good  opportunity  for  the  selection  of  valuable 
lands  lying  between  the  Alatamaha  and  the  river  St. 
Mary.  Of  these  chances  Mclntosh  availed  himself, 
quickly  securing  a  comfortable  livelihood,  and  acquir 
ing  the  promise  of  a  considerable  fortune.  It  was 
while  thus  engaged  that  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was 
called  upon  to  declare  his  sympathies  in  the  discussion 


142  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

which  was  daily  becoming  more  violent  between  the 
Rebel  element  in  the  Province  and  the  adherents  to 
the  Crown.  Manifestly  there  was  no  hesitation  on  his 
part  in  casting  his  lot  with  the  Revolutionists. 

Early  in  January,  1775,  a  District  Congress  was  held 
by  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Andrew's  Parish,  at  which  a 
series  of  manly  resolutions  —  embodying  the  views  of 
a  large  number  of  the  most  influential  citizens  of  the 
Alatamaha  settlements  —  was  adopted  with  much  en 
thusiasm.  The  first  of  these  resolutions  expressed  the 
unqualified  approval  by  the  members  of  that  Congress 
of  "  the  unparalleled  moderation,  the  decent  but  firm 
and  manly  conduct  of  the  loyal  and  brave  people  of 
Boston  and  Massachusetts  Bay  "  in  their  efforts  to  pre 
serve  their  liberties  ;  their  acquiescence  in  and  sanc 
tion  of  "all  the  resolutions  of  the  Grand  American 
Congress  ; "  and  their  "  cheerful  accession  to  the  asso 
ciation  entered  into  by  them  as  the  wisest  and  most 
moderate  measure  that  could  be  adopted."  The  second 
resolution,  after  condemning  the  closing  of  the  land 
offices  to  the  great  detriment  of  colonial  growth  and 
the  injury  of  the  industrious  poor,  declared  that  every 
"encouragement  should  be  given  to  the  indigent  of 
every  nation  by  every  generous  American."  The  third 
criticised  severely  ministerial  mandates  which  prohib 
ited  Colonial  Assemblies  from  passing  such  laws  as  the 
exigencies  of  their  respective  Provinces  required.  In 
the  fourth,  the  practice  of  making  colonial  officers  de 
pendent  upon  Great  Britain  for  the  determination  and 
payment  of  their  salaries,  thus  rendering  them  "  inde 
pendent  of  the  people  who  should  support  them  ac 
cording  to  their  usefulness  and  behaviour,"  was  heart 
ily  condemned.  By  the  fifth,  the  Parish  declared  its 


LACHLAN   McTNTOSH.  143 

"disapprobation  and  abhorrence  of  the  unnatural  prac 
tice  of  slavery  in  America,"  and  its  determination  to 
urge  the  manumission  of  our  slaves  in  this  Colony 
upon  the  most  safe  and  equitable  footing  for  the  mas 
ters  and  themselves."  The  last  resolution  provided 
for  the  election  of  delegates  to  represent  the  district 
in  a  Provincial  Congress,  and  instructed  them  to  urge 
the  appointment  of  deputies  from  Georgia  to  the  Con 
tinental  Congress. 

Appended  to  these  resolutions,  which  among  others 
were  signed  by  Lachlan  Mclntosh,  appeared  the  fol 
lowing  Articles  of  Association  :  — 

"  Being  persuaded  that  the  salvation  of  the  rights 
and  liberties  of  America  depend,  under  God,  on  the 
firm  union  of  the  inhabitants  in  the  vigorous  prosecu 
tion  of  the  measures  necessary  for  its  safety,  and  con 
vinced  of  the  necessity  of  preventing  the  anarchy  and 
confusion  which  attend  the  dissolution  of  the  forces  of 
government,  we,  the  freemen,  freeholders,  and  inhabi 
tants  of  the  Province  of  Georgia,  being  greatly  alarmed 
at  the  avowed  design  of  the  ministry  to  raise  a  reve 
nue  in  America,  and  shocked  by  the  bloody  scenes 
now  acting  in  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  do  in  the  most 
solemn  manner  resolve  never  to  become  slaves;  and 
do  associate  under  all  the  ties  of  religion,  honor,  and 
love  of  country  to  adopt  and  endeavor  to  carry  into 
execution  whatever  may  be  recommended  by  the  Con 
tinental  Congress,  or  resolved  upon  by  our  Provincial 
Convention  that  shall  be  appointed,  for  the  purpose 
of  preserving  our  Constitution  and  opposing  the  exe 
cution  of  the  several  arbitrary  and  oppressive  acts  of 
the  British  Parliament,  until  a  reconciliation  between 
Great  Britain  and  America  on  constitutional  princi- 


144  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

pies,  which  we  most  ardently  desire,  can  be  obtained  ; 
and  that  we  will  in  all  things  follow  the  advice  of  our 
General  Committee,  to  be  appointed,  respecting  the 
purposes  aforesaid,  the  preservation  of  peace  and  good 
order,  and  the  safety  of  individuals  and  private  prop 
erty." 

It  was  in  view  of  these  and  similar  resolutions 
adopted  by  other  parishes  in  Georgia,  that  Sir  James 
Wright,  in  addressing  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth  on  the 
13th  of  February,  1775,  said:  "Really,  my  Lord,  a 
great  many  People  have  worked  themselves  up  to 
such  a  pitch  of  political  enthusiasm  with  respect  to 
their  ideas  of  Liberty  and  the  powers  of  the  British 
Parliament,  and  of  their  right  to  resist  what  they  call 
unconstitutional  laws,  that  I  do  not  expect  they  will 
yet  give  up  their  pretensions." 

In  the  important  Provincial  Congress  which  assem 
bled  in  Savannah  on  the  4th  of  July,  1775,  Lachlan 
Mclntosh  sat  as  a  delegate  from  the  Parish  of  St. 
Andrew,  and  sympathized  fully  in  the  conclusions  of 
that  body. 

On  the  7th  of  January,  1776,  the  battalion,  which 
the  Continental  Congress  on  the  4th  of  the  previous 
November  ordered  to  be  raised  at  the  common  charge 
of  the  United  Provinces  for  the  protection  of  Georgia, 
was  organized  by  commissioning  line  officers  for  the 
eight  companies  which  composed  it,  and  by  appoint 
ing  Lachlan  Mclntosh  as  Colonel,  Samuel  Elbert  as 
Lieutenant-Colonel,  and  Joseph  Habersham  as  Major. 
From  this  time  forward,  and  until  American  indepen 
dence  was  conceded  by  the  mother  country,  Lachlan 
Mclntosh  remained  in  the  military  service  of  the  Con 
federated  Provinces. 


LACHLAN  McTNTOSH.  145 

A  question  having  arisen  touching  a  possible  con 
flict  of  authority  between  the  Continental  Congress 
and  the  Georgia  Provincial  Congress,  or  Council  of 
Safety,  in  regard  to  the  command  of  this  battalion, — 
the  enlistment  of  which  upon  a  Continental  establish 
ment  had  been  sanctioned  and  aided  by  the  General 
Congress,  —  the  matter  was  set  at  rest  by  a  written 
declaration,  signed  by  all  the  field  and  line  officers  of 
that  organization,  pledging  themselves  as  soldiers  and 
men  of  honor  to  obey  all  orders  emanating  from  the 
Congresses  or  Councils  of  Safety  of  Georgia,  where  the 
same  did  not  conflict  with  the  "  directions  of  the  Gen 
eral  Congress,  or  a  committee  thereof,  or  of  any  gen 
eral  or  other  officer  by  them  appointed." 

In  forwarding  a  copy  of  this  document  to  General 
George  Washington,  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Ameri 
can  forces,  Colonel  Mclntosh,  on  the  16th  of  February, 
1776,  furnished  an  interesting  account  of  the  popula 
tion,  resources,  and  dangers  of  the  Province,  requested 
general  instructions  as  to  the  conduct  of  military 
affairs  within  the  limits  of  the  Colony,  and  asked  to  be 
informed  how  far  his  command  was  under  the  orders 
of  the  Provincial  Congress,  and  what  rank  he  and  his 
officers  should  hold  when  acting  with  the  militia. 

In  March,  1776,  when  Majors  Maitland  and  Grant 
attempted  the  capture  of  the  rice-laden  vessels  lying 
in  the  river  opposite  Savannah,  Colonel  Mclntosh  with 
three  hundred  men  proceeded  to  Yamacraw  Bluff, 
where  he  hastily  threw  up  a  breastwork  and  posted 
three  four-pounder  guns  bearing  upon  the  shipping. 
From  this  battery,  for  four  hours  he  fired  upon  the 
enemy.  Galled  by  canister  and  solid  shot,  supple 
mented  by  rifle  balls  from  sharpshooters  and  by  vessels 


146  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

ignited  and  turned  adrift  in  the  river,  the  British 
troops  abandoned  their  attempt  and  resumed  their  sta 
tion  in  Tybee  Roads.  This  was  the  first  passage-at- 
arnis  within  the  limits  of  Georgia  between  the  "  Sons 
of  Liberty  "  and  the  King's  soldiers.  The  Rubicon  had 
been  passed.  Blood  had  been  shed,  and  resistance  to 
the  death  offered  on  the  part  of  Georgians  to  English 
dominion.  The  patriotism  displayed  by  the  citizens  of 
Savannah,  and  the  manhood  exhibited  on  this  occasion 
in  defense  of  their  homes  and  property,  merit  high 
commendation.  Apprehending  another  and  a  more 
serious  demonstration,  Colonel  Mclntosh  detained  his 
battalion  in  Savannah  ready  for  action.  Complying 
with  a  custom  which  had  obtained  when  Georgia  was 
ruled  by  Royal  governors,  Colonel  Mclntosh,  when  the 
Honorable  Archibald  Bulloch  was  elected  President 
and  Commander-in-Chief  of  Georgia,  posted  a  sentinel 
at  the  door  of  his  residence.  To  this  his  Excellency 
objected,  with  the  remark,  "  I  act  for  a  free  people 
in  whom  I  have  the  most  entire  confidence,  and  I  wish 
to  avoid  on  all  occasions  the  appearance  of  ostenta 
tion." 

When,  on  the  10th  of  August,  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  was  promulgated  in  Savannah  by  Presi 
dent  Bulloch,  Colonel  Mclntosh  commanded  the  pro 
cession  and  fired  the  salutes. 

Responding  to  the  request  of  General  Charles  Lee, 
Jonathan  Bryan,  John  Houstoun,  and  Colonel  Mcln 
tosh  —  representing  the  Council  of  Safety  of  Georgia 
—  waited  upon  that  officer  (then  in  command  of  the 
Southern  Department)  at  Charlestown,  and  suggested 
a  plan  of  operations  by  which  it  was  hoped  annoying 
banditti  from  Florida  might  be  slain  or  dispersed,  and 


LACHLAN  McINTOSH.  147 

the  town  of  St.  Augustine  captured.  Moved  by  the 
representations  of  this  committee,  and  anxious  to  put 
a  stop  to  the  depredations  upon  the  southern  frontier 
of  Georgia,  General  Lee  resolved  upon  an  expedition 
for  the  reduction  of  East  Florida.  In  the  movement 
then  inaugurated  Colonel  Mclntosh  and  his  command 
participated,  but  it  was  not  pressed  beyond  Sunbury. 
Want  of  preparation,  the  absence  of  necessary  stores 
and  transportation,  and  the  recall  of  General  Lee 
converted  the  whole  affair  into  a  miserable  fiasco. 
Thereupon  Colonel  Mclntosh,  taking  counsel  of  him 
self,  made  the  best  possible  disposition  of  his  command 
along  the  southern  frontier  of  Georgia  for  its  protec 
tion.  Various  skirmishes  occurred  in  this  direction, 
and  the  Province  was  kept  in  a  state  of  constant 
alarm. 

The  General  Assembly  of  Georgia  resolved  to  add 
three  battalions  of  infantry  and  a  squadron  of  dragoons 
to  the  troops  serving  on  the  Continental  establishment, 
to  form  them  into  a  brigade,  and  to  promote  Colonel 
Mclntosh  to  the  rank  of  Brigadier-General  and  assign 
him  to  their  command.  Button  Gwinnett  had  been  a 
candidate  for  this  position,  and  he  was  much  embit 
tered  by  Mclntosh's  success.  When  by  the  Council  of 
Safety  Mr.  Gwinnett  was  elected  President  and  Com- 
mander-in-Chief  of  Georgia  until  such  time  as  a  gov 
ernor  could  be  appointed  under  the  provisions  of  the 
Constitution  recently  adopted,  that  gentleman,  quick 
in  action,  brave  and  ambitious,  sought  to  signalize  his 
administration  by  an  expedition  against  Florida.  The 
expectation  of  retaliation  was  pleasing  to  the  public ; 
and  President  Gwinnett  hoped,  by  a  quick  descent,  to 
take  the  Floridians  unawares  and  win  an  easy  victory. 


148  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Intent  upon  mortifying  Mclntosh,  who,  as  the  ranking 
military  officer  of  Georgia,  was  entitled  to  command 
the  troops  detailed  for  the  movement,  he  set  him  aside, 
assigned  subordinates  to  special  columns,  and  deter 
mined  himself  to  assume  personal  conduct  and  con 
trol  of  the  expedition.  This  of  course  widened  the 
breach  between  those  gentlemen.  As  the  story  of  this 
ill-timed  and  disastrous  expedition  has  already  been 
fully  told  in  the  sketch  of  Button  Gwinnett,  we  refrain 
from  repeating  it  in  this  connection. 

In  the  political  contest  which  occurred  between 
Button  Gwinnett  and  John  Adam  Treutlen,  during  the 
session  of  the  Legislature  in  May,  1777,  for  the  gu 
bernatorial  chair,  the  latter  was  successful.  Treutlen's 
cause  had  been  warmly  espoused  by  Mclntosh,  who 
was  open  and  violent  in  his  denunciations  of  Gwinnett. 
The  quarrel  between  these  quick-tempered  and  brave 
men  culminated  in  a  duel,  fought  on  the  morning  of 
the  16th  of  May,  1777,  within  the  present  limits  of 
the  city  of  Savannah.  The  weapons  used  were  pistols, 
and  the  principals  were  posted  at  the  short  distance 
of  only  four  paces.  At  the  first  discharge  both  were 
struck.  Gwinnett's  thigh  was  shattered,  and  he  sank 
upon  the  ground.  When  asked  if  he  desired  to  ex 
change  another  shot,  he  responded,  "  Yes,  if  I  should 
be  helped  up."  The  seconds,  however,  intervened,  and 
Gwinnett  was  borne  from  the  field.  The  weather  was 
very  hot.  Mortification  quickly  ensued,  and  Gwinnett 
expired  on  the  fourth  day  after  receiving  his  mortal 
hurt.  Mclntosh  was  confined  to  his  couch  for  some 
time.  Gwinnett's  death  created  much  excitement. 
Dr.  Lyman  Hall  —  a  warm  personal  friend  of  the  de 
ceased,  and  one  of  his  executors  —  and  other  promi- 


LACHLAN   McINTOSH.  149 

nent  gentlemen  brought  the  matter  to  the  notice  of 
the  Legislature,  and  accused  the  officers  of  the  law  of  a 
neglect  of  duty  in  not  arresting  Mclntosh  and  binding 
him  over  to  answer  to  a  charge  of  murder.  Informed 
of  what  was  transpiring,  the  General,  as  soon  as  his 
wound  would  permit,  surrendered  himself  to  Judge 
Glen,  entered  into  bond  for  his  appearance,  was  in 
dicted,  tried,  and  acquitted.  Even  this  determination 
of  the  matter  did  not  allay  the  animosity  of  Gwin- 
nett's  friends,  who,  angered  at  the  death  of  their 
leader,  endeavored  to  impair  the  influence  of  Mcln 
tosh,  and  to  fetter  his  usefulness  in  the  public  service. 
Moved  by  the  circumstances,  invoking  the  interven 
tion  of  his  friend,  the  Honorable  Henry  Laurens,  and 
finally  securing  an  order1  from  the  Continental  Con 
gress,  General  Mclntosh —  surrendering  his  command 
in  Georgia,  and  taking  with  him  as  his  deputy  adju 
tant-general  his  son,  Captain  Lachlan  Mclntosh,  and 
as  his  brigade  major  his  young  friend,  Captain  John 
Berrien  —  reported  at  Washington's  headquarters  for 
assignment  to  another  field  of  duty.  For  some  time 
he  was  placed  in  advance  of  the  central  army,  and  was 
actively  engaged  in  watching  the  movements  of  Gen 
eral  Howe's  forces,  then  concentrated  in  Philadelphia. 
Subsequently  he  was  entrusted  with  the  command  of 
the  western  districts  of  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania.  So 
soon  as  measures  had  been  fully  concerted  between 
Count  D'Estaing  and  General  Benjamin  Lincoln  for 
the  repossession  of  Savannah  and  Southern  Georgia, 
then  held  by  the  British  troops  under  General  Pre- 
vost,  anxious  to  participate  in  this  important  move 
ment,  General  Mclntosh,  who  had  then  completed  his 

1  Dated  August  1,  1777. 


150  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

arrangements  for  an  attack  upon  Detroit,  applied  for 
permission  to  return  to  Georgia.  Sympathizing  in  the 
propriety  of  this  wish  on  the  part  of  his  lieutenant, 
General  Washington  signified  his  approval,  and  gave 
to  General  Mclntosh  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Conti 
nental  Congress,  in  which,  under  date  of  May  11, 1779, 
he  says  :  "  Brigadier-General  Mclntosh  will  have  the 
honor  of  delivering  you  this.  The  war  in  Georgia, 
being  the  State  to  which  he  belongs,  makes  him  desir 
ous  of  serving  in  the  Southern  army.  I  know  not 
whether  the  arrangements  Congress  have  in  contem 
plation  may  make  it  convenient  to  employ  him  there : 
but  I  take  the  liberty  to  recommend  him  as  a  gentle 
man  whose  knowledge  of  service  and  of  the  country 
promises  to  make  him  useful.  I  beg  leave  to  add, 
that  General  Mclntosh's  conduct,  while  he  acted  im 
mediately  under  my  observation,  was  such  as  to  acquire 
my  esteem  and  confidence,  and  I  have  had  no  reason 
since  to  alter  my  good  opinion  of  him." 

His  application  being  sanctioned  by  the  Continental 
Congress,  General  Mclntosh  proceeded  to  Charlestown, 
where  he  reported  to  General  Benjamin  Lincoln,  then 
in  command  of  the  Southern  Department.  By  that 
officer  he  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  Conti 
nental  forces  in  Georgia,  and  his  headquarters  were, 
for  the  time  being,  established  at  Augusta.  It  was 
from  this  point,  in  association  with  Count  Pulaski.  that 
General  Mclntosh,  early  in  September,  1779,  moved 
upon  Savannah,  reaching  its  vicinity  in  advance  of  the 
army  under  General  Lincoln,  occupying  a  position 
between  that  town  and  Great  Ogeechee  Ferry,  and 
there  awaiting  the  concentration  of  the  allied  troops. 
It  lies  not  within  the  compass  of  this  sketch  to  recount 


LACHLAN  McINTOSH.  151 

the  incidents  connected  with  the  siege  of  Savannah.1 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  General  Mclntosh,  as  second  in 
command  of  the  American  forces,  actively  participated 
in  the  siege,  and  led  one  of  the  columns  of  assault  on 
the  Spring  Hill  redoubt,  on  the  bloody  and  disastrous 
morning  of  the  9th  of  October,  1779.  In  the  conduct 
of  all  operations  committed  to  his  guidance  he  exhib 
ited  a  courage  and  an  ability  worthy  of  every  com 
mendation.  His  position  was  peculiarly  trying,  for 
his  wife  and  family  were  within  the  city  lines,  and 
were  for  weeks  exposed  to  the  fury  of  the  fire  of  the 
investing  batteries. 

When  the  siege  was  raised,  the  French  troops  — 
betaking  themselves  to  their  fleet  —  departed;  and 
the  American  forces  under  General  Lincoln  retreated 
upon  Charlestown,  where,  after  a  protracted  and  gal 
lant  defense,  they  were  compelled  to  surrender  to 
General  Clinton.  Among  the  general  officers  captured 
on  that  occasion  was  Brigadier-General  Lachlan  Mcln- 
tosh.  When  released,  he  retired  with  his  family  to 
Virginia;  from  that  time  forward,  and  until  the  suc 
cessful  termination  of  the  war,  participating  but  little 
in  military  affairs.  His  companions  in  arms,  when  they 
were  made  acquainted  with  his  purpose  to  establish 
his  temporary  home  in  Virginia,  united  in  a  compli 
mentary  communication  to  Governor  Jefferson,  com 
mending  General  Mclntosh  to  the  particular  notice  of 
that  State,  and  requesting  in  his  behalf  such  allowance 
of  lands  and  other  emoluments  as  were  given  for  the 
encouragement  and  reward  of  efficient  officers  belong 
ing  to  the  Virginia  line. 

1  For  a  full  account,  see  Jones's  History  of  Georgia,  vol.  ii.  pp.  375-416. 
Boston  :  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.     1883. 


152  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Upon  his  return  to  Georgia  in  1779,  after  an  ab 
sence  of  some  two  years,  General  Mclntosh  hoped  that 
time  had  healed  all  wounds,  and  that  he  would  be  per 
mitted,  without  jealousy  or  opposition,  to  devote  his 
time  and  energies  to  the  defense  of  his  home  and 
people.  In  this  pleasing  anticipation  he  was  disap 
pointed.  On  the  30th  of  November,  1779,  a  letter, 
purporting  to  be  signed  by  William  Glascock,  Speaker 
of  the  House  of  Representatives,  was  transmitted  by 
George  Walton,  then  Governor  of  Georgia,  to  the 
President  of  the  Continental  Congress,  assuring  that 
body  of  the  dissatisfaction  experienced  by  the  people 
of  Georgia  at  the  assignment  of  General  Mclntosh  to 
the  command  of  the  military  in  that  State,  and  ear 
nestly  suggesting  that  "  some  distant  field  for  the  exer 
cise  of  his  abilities  "  should  be  selected.  So  thoroughly 
did  this  communication,  supported  by  the  representa 
tions  of  General  Mclntosh's  enemies,  poison  the  minds 
of  the  members  of  the  Continental  Congress  that  they 
resolved,  on  the  15th  of  February,  1780,  to  "dispense 
with  the  services  of  Brigadier-General  Mclntosh  until 
the  further  order  of  Congress." 

Upon  inquiry,  this  letter  proved  to  be  an  utter  for 
gery  ;  and,  after  a  review  of  the  whole  affair,  the  Le 
gislature  of  Georgia  "  resolved  that  General  Mclntosh 
be  informed  that  this  House  does  entertain  an  abhor 
rence  of  all  such  injurious  attempts  made  use  of,  as 
appears  by  the  papers  laid  before  them,  to  injure  the 
character  of  an  officer  and  citizen  of  this  State  who 
merits  the  attention  of  the  Legislature  for  his  early, 
decided,  and  persevering  efforts  in  the  defense  of 
America ;  of  which  virtue  this  House  has  the  highest 


LACHLAN  McINTOSH.  153 

Upon  the  evacuation  of  Savannah  by  General  Alu- 
red  Clarke  and  the  King's  forces  in  the  summer  of 
1782,  General  Mclntosh  returned  with  his  family  to 
Georgia,  and,  from  that  time  until  his  death  on  the 
20th  of  February,  1806,  continued  to  reside  in  that 
town  and  its  vicinity.  In  1784  he  was  complimented 
with  a  seat  in  the  Continental  Congress.  Of  the  im 
portant  commission  charged  with  the  settlement  of  the 
boundary  between  Georgia  and  South  Carolina  he  was 
a  member.  He  also  represented  Georgia  in  the  accom 
modation  of  disputes  with  the  Creek  and  Cherokee 
nations. 

With  the  exception  of  these  occasional  and  limited 
public  employments,  General  Mclntosh  passed  the  re- 
mainder  of  his  days  in  retirement.  Although  small  his 
fortune,  he  was  rich  in  the  esteem,  the  friendship,  and 
the  gratitude  of  his  fellow-citizens. 

He  was  for  years  the  President  of  the  Georgia 
Branch  of  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati.  Upon  the 
occasion  of  President  Washington's  visit  to  Savannah 
in  May,  1791,  he  was  attended  by  General  Mclntosh 
when  he  inspected  the  lines  constructed  by  the  British 
in  1779  for  the  defense  of  Savannah,  and  the  ap 
proaches  and  batteries  then  made  by  the  Allied  Army. 
Having  himself  participated  in  the  siege  and  in  the 
assault  of  the  9th  of  October,  General  Mclntosh  was 
able  to  convey  to  the  President  full  information  touch 
ing  the  whole  affair.  The  earth  mounds  covering  the 
slain,  the  lines  of  circumvallation,  the  sand  parapets 
and  gun  chambers,  had  not  then  yielded  to  the  influ 
ences  of  time  and  an  encroaching  population.  The 
scars  of  the  siege  were  still  upon  the  bosorn  of  the 
plain,  and  some  of  the  houses  within  the  limits  of  the 


154  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

city  bore  the  marks  of  the  lethal  missiles  which  were 
then  hurled.  About  him  stood  those  who  had  passed 
through  that  baptism  of  fire.  The  President  exhib 
ited  a  deep  interest  in  everything  he  then  saw  and 
heard. 

The  writer  of  the  memoir  which  appears  in  the  third 
volume  of  "  The  National  Portrait  Gallery  of  Distin 
guished  Americans "  describes  General  Mclntosh  as 
being  five  feet  eleven  inches  tall,  "  of  athletic  form  and 
great  activity."  While  a  lad  at  New  Inverness,  there 
was  not  an  Indian  in  the  neighborhood  who  could 
compete  with  him  in  fleetness  of  foot;  and  when 
twenty-five  years  of  age,  a  friend  spoke  of  him  as 
"  the  handsomest  man  he  had  ever  seen."  A  county 
in  Southern  Georgia  perpetuates  the  name  of  the 
Mclntosh  family,  which,  since  its  settlement  upon  the 
Alatamaha,  has  in  four  wars  given  brave  and  distin 
guished  members  to  the  military  service  of  colony, 
commonwealth,  and  nation.1 

1  General  Mclntosh's  will  was  probated  in  Chatham  County,  Georgia, 
on  the  5th  of  May,  1806,  and  is  now  of  file  in  the  Ordinary's  Office  in  Sa 
vannah. 


WILLIAM  PIERCE. 

IT  is  claimed  by  respectable  authority  that  this  gen 
tleman  was  born  in  Georgia  about  1740.  Of  his  early 
life  we  find  no  mention  beyond  the  fact  that  his  educa 
tion  was  liberal,  and  that  his  pursuits  were  mercantile 
in  their  character.  His  first  distinction  was  won  in 
arms  as  an  aide-de-camp  to  General  Nathanael  Greene, 
whose  friendship  and  confidence  he  appears  to  have 
enjoyed  to  the  fullest  extent.  For  his  meritorious 
conduct  at  the  battle  of  Eutaws  he  was  complimented 
by  the  American  Congress  and  presented  with  a  sword. 
In  the  Continental  service  he  rose  to  the  grade  of 
major. 

Upon  the  conclusion  of  the  war  of  the  Revolution 
Major  Pierce  resumed  his  residence  in  Savannah,  where 
he  became  the  head  of  the  mercantile  house  of  William 
Pierce  &  Co.  Chancing  upon  misfortune,  that  firm 
went  into  liquidation  in  1788.  During  the  years  1786 
and  1787  he  was  a  Delegate  from  Georgia  to  the  Con 
tinental  Congress.  He  had  previously  represented  the 
County  of  Chatham  in  the  State  Legislature. 

On  the  10th  of  February,  1787,  in  association  with 
William  Few,  Abram  Baldwin,  George  Walton,  William 
Houstoun,  and  Nathaniel  Pendleton,  he  was  appointed 
a  deputy  from  Georgia  to  the  Philadelphia  Convention 
called  for  the  purpose  of  revising  the  Federal  Constitu 
tion.  He  took  his  seat  in  that  Convention  on  the  31st 
of  May,  and  participated  in  the  deliberations.  He  was 


156  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

not  present  when  the  Constitution  finally  formulated 
was  signed.  His  impressions  of  the  labors  and  conclu 
sions  of  the  Convention  are  given  in  extenso  in  a  well- 
considered  and  very  interesting  letter,  dated  in  New 
York  city  on  the  28th  of  September,  1787,  and  ad 
dressed  by  him  to  St.  George  Tucker,  Esquire.  The  full 
text  of  this  important  communication  may  be  found  in 
the  Georgia  Gazette  of  March  20,  1788. 

That  letter  inclosed  to  Mr.  Tucker  a  copy  of  the 
Constitution.  "  You  will,"  writes  Major  Pierce,  "  prob 
ably  be  surprised  at  not  finding  my  name  affixed  to 
it ;  and  will  no  doubt  be  desirous  of  having  a  reason 
for  it.  Know  then,  Sir,  that  I  was  absent  in  New  York 
on  a  piece  of  business  so  necessary  that  it  became  un 
avoidable.  I  approve  of  its  principles,  and  would  have 
signed  it  with  all  my  heart  had  I  been  present.  To 
say,  however,  that  I  consider  it  as  perfect  would  be  to 
make  an  acknowledgment  immediately  opposed  to  my 
judgment.  Perhaps  it  is  the  only  one  which  will  suit 
our  present  situation.  The  wisdom  of  the  Convention 
was  equal  to  something  greater;  but  a  variety  of  local 
circumstances,  the  inequality  of  States,  and  the  disso 
nant  interests  of  the  different  parts  of  the  Union  made 
it  impossible  to  give  it  any  other  shape  or  form." 

The  writer  then  passes  the  salient  features  of  the 
Constitution  in  a  review  worthy  of  careful  considera 
tion,  which  we  would  gladly  here  reproduce  did  the 
limits  of  this  sketch  permit.  He  was  an  earnest  advo 
cate  of  an  election  by  the  people  of  the  members  of 
the  House  of  Eepresentatives,  and  by  the  States  of  the 
Senators,  whose  terms  of  service  he  preferred  to  limit 
to  three  years. 

Major  Pierce  died  in  the  city  of  Savannah,  Georgia, 


WILLIAM   PIERCE.  157 

on  the  10th  of  December,  1789,  and  the  following 
tribute  to  his  memory  is  reproduced  from  the  contem 
porary  columns  of  the  Georgia  Gazette :  — 

"To  speak  of  the  dead  is  no  uncommon  thing:  how 
ever,  a  friend  cannot  refrain  from  paying  the  last  trib 
ute  to  the  manes  of  MAJOR  WILLIAM  PIERCE,  who 
died  last  Thursday  week  [December  10,  1789]  uni 
versally  regretted.  He,  at  an  early  period  of  the  con 
test  between  America  and  Great  Britain,  took  a  decided 
part  in  favour  of  his- country,  which  he  loved  to  his  last 
moments:  for  we  may  say  when  the  hand  of  Death  was 
over  him  he  was  a  candidate  to  become  its  servant. 
He  was  particularly  noticed  by  that  gallant  officer  Gen. 
Greene,  who  honoured  him  with  his  friendship  and  most 
secret  confidence.  Congress  in  respect  to  his  services 
at  the  battle  of  the  Eutaws  made  him  a  compliment  of 
an  elegant  Sword  as  a  token  of  their  approbation  of 
his  conduct.  He  had  the  honour  to  represent  Chat 
ham  County  in  the  General  Assembly ;  and  was  sent 
as  a  Delegate  from  this  State  to  Congress  at  a  time 
when  deliberation  and  great  judgment  were  necessary; 
which  duties  he  discharged  to  the  satisfaction  of  his 
Country. 

"Though  born  with  a  delicate  constitution,  he  had  till 
lately  enjoyed  a  firm,  uninterrupted  state  of  health, 
which  however  was,  from  the  fatigues  of  the  war, 
diversities  of  climes  and  elements,  at  length  under 
mined  and  destroyed :  His  manners  polite  and  obliging, 
his  reasonings  precise,  his  diction l  perspicuous  and  elo 
quent  :  His  love  of  truth  was  not  tainted  by  the  desire 
of  popularity,  nor  his  modesty  impaired  by  the  favours 
of  those  in  power ;  for  he  was  of  no  party,  but  the  gen- 

1  See  his  oration  delivered  on  the  4th  Julv. 


158  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

eral  good  of  his  country ;  His  way  of  thinking  had  pre 
served  him  from  the  pursuits  of  selfishness  and  sordid 
intrigues :  his  character  appeared  worthy  of  the  favours 
of  Fortune  ;  but  alas  !  he  stood  the  hardest  tests  of  mis 
fortune  :  a  sincere,  and  occasionally  an  active  friend ; 
always  an  agreeable  companion.  The  Society  of  the 
Cincinnati  honoured  him  as  their  Vice  President,  and  by 
whom  he  was  attended  as  mourners  to  the  tomb.  An 
affectionate  and  endearing  husband,  a  kind  master,  and 
all  that  was  worth  possessing  in  a  domestick  situation. 
He  supported  a  lingering  disease,  and  beheld  the  slow 
approaches  of  Death  with  philosophical  calmness  and 
serenity;  and  I  am  told  by  a  friend  who  visited  him  at 
that  solemn  period,  when  he  took  leave  of  his  wife  and 
friends  his  soul  seemed,  as  it  were,  already  received  in 
the  blissful  mansions  of  the  blessed  —  to  make  use  of 
his  own  words,  which  were  the  last  he  uttered, '  Fare 
well  !  farewell  all !  Now  dies  the  happy  man.'  " 

Upon  the  4th  of  July,  1789,  when  the  anniversary  of 
American  Independence  was  celebrated  by  the  Georgia 
Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  at  Hamilton's  Long  Room  in 
Savannah,  and  the  oration  was  pronounced  by  Major 
Pierce,  the  following  officers  were  elected:  — 

Major-General  Anthony  Wayne,  President. 

Major  William  Pierce,  Vice-President. 

Major  John  Habersham,  Secretary. 

Colonel  Richard  Wylly,  Treasurer. 

John  Peter  Ward,  Esqr.,  Assistant  Secretary. 

Edward  Lloyd,  Esqr.,  Assistant  Treasurer. 
At  the  "elegant  dinner"  which  crowned  a  day  of 
"  great  harmony  and  conviviality  "  the  following  toasts 
were  drank :  — 

1  The  Georgia  Gazette  [No.  361],  Thursday,  December  24,  1789. 


WILLIAM  PIERCE.  159 

"1.  The  President-General  of  the  Society  and  of  the 
Union. 

2.  The  respective  State  Societies. 

3.  Prosperity  and  Happiness  to  our  dear  Country. 

4.  The  People. 

5.  Agriculture  and  Commerce. 

6.  The  Legislature  of  the  Union;  —  wisdom,  una 
nimity,  and  a  happy  operation  to  their  measures. 

7.  Peace  and  Harmony. 

8.  The  King  of  France,  and  the  Officers  of  his  Army 
who  assisted  in  establishing  the  American  Independence. 

9.  The  Governor  and  State  of  Georgia. 

10.  The  Memory  of  our  departed  Brethren. 

11.  The  Kepublicks  of  the  World,  where  law  and  not 
the  will  of  despots  rules. 

12.  May  Policy  dictate  a  just  Reward  for  Publick 
Service. 

13.  May  North    Carolina  and   Rhode  Island   by  a 
speedy  Adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution  complete 
the  Number  of  the  Thirteen  United  States." 


SAMUEL  STIRK. 

MR.  STIRK  is  believed  to  have  been  a  native  of  Savan 
nah,  Georgia.  He  there  resided  and  was  a  practitioner 
of  law  when  he  first  attracted  public  notice. 

Of  the  Executive  Council  chosen  in  1777 --when 
John  Adam  Treutlen,  defeating  Button  Gwinnett,  was 
elected  first  Republican  Governor  of  Georgia — Benja 
min  Andrew  was  complimented  with  the  Presidency, 
and  Samuel  Stirk  was  appointed  Clerk. 

By  the  Assembly  convened  in  Augusta  he  was,  on 
the  16th  of  August,  1781,  elected  a  Delegate  from 
Georgia  to  the  Continental  Congress.  By  the  same 
Legislature  he  was  honored  with  the  position  of  Attor 
ney-General  of  Georgia,  and  to  this  office  he  was  re- 
elected  in  January,  1783.  Simultaneously  with  this 
latter  appointment,  he  was  named  as  a  Commissioner 
on  the  part  of  the  State  to  negotiate  with  Governor 
Patrick  Tonyn,  of  East  Florida,  for  the  accommodation 
of  all  differences  and  the  prevention  of  further  disturb 
ances  along  the  line  of  the  river  St.  Mary. 

Among  the  Justices  of  Chatham  County  his  name 
appears  in  1786,  and  also  in  1789.  During  the  last- 
mentioned  year  he  was  President  of  the  Board  of  War 
dens  of  Savannah. 

In  1778  and  1779  he  was  in  the  military  service  of 
the  State  and  Confederation ;  and,  with  the  rank  of 
Lieutenant-Colonel,  participated  in  the  ill-starred  expe 
dition  launched  by  President  Gwinnett  against  East 
Florida. 


EDWARD   TELFAIR. 

THIS  gentleman,  distinguished  alike  for  his  attractive 
social  qualities,  admirable  business  methods,  integrity, 
financial  ability,  and  statesmanlike  conduct,  was  a  na 
tive  of  Scotland.  He  was  born  in  1735  on  the  farm 
of  Town  Head,  the  ancestral  estate  of  the  Telfairs, 
which  has  since  passed  into  the  ownership  of  the  Earl 
of  Selkirk.  Having  received  his  English  education  at 
the  grammar  school  of  Kirkcudbright,  he  subsequently 
applied  himself  to  the  acquisition  of  a  thorough  com 
mercial  training,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-three  com 
ing  to  America  as  the  representative  of  a  business 
house,  resided  for  some  time  in  Virginia.  He  after 
wards  removed  to  Halifax,  North  Carolina,  and  subse 
quently,  in  1766,  settled  in  Savannah,  Georgia.1  By 
energy,  thrift,  fair  dealing,  and  enterprise,  he  soon  es 
tablished  a  lucrative  business  in  what  was  then  the 
commercial  metropolis  of  the  Province.  Deeply  im 
mersed  in  trade  was  he  when  the  disagreements  be 
tween  the  American  Colonies  and  the  mother  country 
began  to  assume  decided  and  alarming  proportions. 
That  he  did  not  long  hesitate  in  choosing  sides  upon 
the  momentous  questions  which  then  agitated  the  pub 
lic  mind  may  be  fairly  inferred,  because,  as  early  as  the 

1  See  Johnson's  Traditions  and  Reminiscences,  chiefly  of  the  Revolution 
in  the  South,  p.  200.     Charleston,  S.  C.,  1851. 
II 


162  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

27th  of  July,  1774,  we  find  him  a  member  of  two  com 
mittees  raised  by  the  Eepublican  party  in  Georgia, — 
one  to  assure  the  other  American  Colonies  of  the  rebel 
sentiments  of  the  Province,  and  of  its  determination  to 
share  the  common  lot  in  the  effort  to  win  independence 
from  British  rule ;  and  the  other  to  solicit  and  forward 
supplies  for  the  relief  of  the  suffering  patriots  in 
Boston. 

As  a  Delegate  elected  by  the  liberty-seeking  citizens 
of  Savannah  on  the  8th  of  December  in  the  same  year, 
he  participated  in  the  deliberations  of  the  Provincial 
Congress  which  assembled  on  the  18th  of  the  following 
January. 

In  association  with  Dr.  Noble  W.  Jones,  Joseph  Ha- 
bersham,  and  others,  —  most  of  them  members  of  the 
Council  of  Safety  and  all  zealous  in  the  cause  of  Amer 
ican  freedom,  —  he  personally  assisted  in  breaking  open 
the  public  magazine  in  Savannah,  and  in  removing 
therefrom  a  goodly  quantity  of  the  King's  powder 
with  which  to  supply  the  urgent  needs  of  the  Revolu 
tionists. 

On  the  21st  of  June,  1775,  he  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  Council  of  Safety ;  and,  in  the  Provincial  Con 
gress  which  assembled  in  Savannah  on  the  4th  of  the 
following  July,  he  appeared  and  took  his  seat  as  a  Dele 
gate  from  the  "Town  and  District  of  Savannah."  He 
was  of  the  committee  then  selected  to  frame  an  address 
to  his  Excellency  Governor  Wright;  was  placed  upon 
the  "  Committee  of  Intelligence  ;  "  and  was  constituted 
a  member  of  another  committee  to  present  to  the  in 
habitants  of  the  town  and  district  of  Savannah  the 
66  Article  of  Association "  adopted  by  the  Congress. 
Before  adjourning,  this  body,  on  the  llth  of  December, 


EDWARD  TELFAIR.  163 

elected  a  new  Council  of  Safety,  and  Mr.  Telfair  was 
named  as  one  of  its  members. 

Early  in  1778  he  was  chosen  a  Delegate  from  Geor 
gia  to  the  Continental  Congress.  In  the  following 
July,  together  with  George  Walton  and  Edward  Lang- 
worthy,  he  affixed  his  signature  to  the  "  Articles  of 
Confederation."  One  leave  of  absence  excepted,  he 
remained  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress  until 
January,  1783.  In  May,  1785,  he  was  complimented 
by  another  election  to  the  old  Congress,  but  it  is  be 
lieved  that  he  did  not  resume  his  seat  in  obedience  to 
this  summons.  While  in  Congress  his  services  were 
specially  valuable  in  the  domain  of  finances.  On  the 
15th  of  February,  1783,  he  was  designated  as  an  agent 
on  the  part  of  Georgia  to  settle  the  northern  boundary 
of  the  Commonwealth.  He  also  represented  the  State 
in  consummating,  at  Augusta,  during  the  same  year, 
important  treaties  with  the  Cherokee  and  Creek  In 
dians. 

Three  years  afterwards  he  was  honored  with  the 
Chief  Magistracy  of  Georgia.  His  conduct  in  the  dis 
charge  of  this  exalted  trust  was  characterized  by  wis 
dom,  dignity,  and  firmness.  It  required  no  little  skill 
and  discretion  to  avoid  a  threatened  war  with  the 
Cherokees.  In  compelling  the  removal  of  the  public 
records  from  Savannah  to  the  seat  of  government,  he 
encountered  not  only  the  protest  but  also  the  active 
opposition  of  many  prominent  parties.  The  measures, 
however,  which  he  adopted  to  compass  this  proper 
transfer  were  so  prompt  and  decisive  that  both  the 
dignity  of  the  Commonwealth  and  the  majesty  of  the 
law  were  maintained.  Much  of  his  time  and  thought 
was  bestowed  upon  the  public  finances,  and  in  devis- 


164  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

ing  the  best  scheme  for  liberating  Georgia  from  the 
annoying  indebtedness  which  then  oppressed  her.  It 
was  during  his  administration  that  Georgia  wras  called 
upon  to  mourn  the  demise  of  her  adopted  son,  who, 
next  to  Washington,  challenged  the  public  confidence 
and  esteem,  —  the  great  and  good  General  Nathanael 
Greene.  In  obedience  to  his  orders,  reckless  bands  of 
runaway  slaves,  who,  defying  the  laws,  with  arms  in 
their  hands,  were  plundering  the  plantations  on  the 
Lower  Savannah,  were  thoroughly  dispersed  by  the 
militia. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  convention  which  ratified 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

On  the  9th  of  November,  1789,  Mr.  Telfair  was 
again  called  to. the  gubernatorial  chair.  He  was  the 
first  chief  magistrate  elected  and  qualified  under  the 
new  Constitution.  It  was  his  pleasure  and  privilege  to 
welcome  to  his  home  in  Augusta,  which  was  then  the 
capital  of  the  State,  President  Washington,  in  May, 
1791,  and  to  extend  every  honor  and  courtesy  which 
place  and  circumstance  could  contribute.  On  the  de 
parture  of  the  General,  he  addressed  to  Governor  Tel- 
fair  the  following  courteous  communication :  — 

"  AUGUSTA,  20th  May,  1791. 

"  To  HIS  EXCELLENCY  EDWARD  TELFAIR, 

Governor  of  Georgia  : 

"Sm, — Obeying  the  impulse  of  a  heartfelt  gratitude, 
I  express  with  particular  pleasure  my  sense  of  obliga 
tions  which  your  Excellency's  goodness  and  the  kind 
regard  of  your  citizens  have  conferred  upon  me.  I 
shall  always  retain  a  most  pleasing  remembrance  of 
the  polite  and  hospitable  attentions  which  I  have  re- 


EDWARD   TELFAIR.  165 

ceived  in  my  tour  through  the  State  of  Georgia,  and 
during  my  stay  at  the  residence  of  your  government. 

"  The  manner  in  which  you  are  pleased  to  recognize 
my  public  services,  and  to  regard  my  private  felicity, 
excites  my  sensibility  and  claims  my  grateful  acknow 
ledgments.  Your  Excellency  will  do  justice  to  the  sen 
timents  which  influence  my  wishes  by  believing  that 
they  are  sincerely  offered  for  your  personal  happiness 
and  the  prosperity  of  the  State  over  which  you  pre 
side. 

"  GEORGE  WASHINGTON." 

The  hospitality  extended  by  Governor  Telfair,  on 
this  occasion,  to  his  distinguished  guest  at  bis  home 
on  the  outskirts  of  Augusta,  called  The  Grove,  was 
generous  and  refined  to  the  last  degree. 

Without  specifying  the  particular  duties  which 
claimed  Governor  Telfair's  attention  as  the  chief  ma 
gistrate  of  Georgia,  it  may  be  stated  that  to  the  per 
formance  of  his  public  duties  he  brought  broad  experi 
ence,  business  capacity  of  a  high  order,  a  singleness  of 
purpose,  and  a  devotion  to  duty  which  made  his  ad 
ministration  of  the  affairs  of  state  prompt,  direct,  and 
effective. 

Upon  the  expiration  of  his  gubernatorial  labors  he 
returned  to  his  home  in  Savannah,  where  the  last  years 
of  his  life  were  given  to  the  careful  conduct  of  his 
extensive  private  business,  to  dispensing  hospitality, 
and  to  participating  in,  and  presiding  over,  convoca 
tions  of  his  fellow-citizens  on  important  occasions. 

In  this  city  he  died  on  the  19th  of  September,  1807, 
and  was  buried  with  every  honor  which  public  esteem 
and  private  friendship  could  extend. 


166  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Among  the  members  from  Georgia  of  the  Continental 
Congress  Governor  Telfair  was  perhaps  possessed  of  the 
greatest  wealth.  Although  during  the  war  of  the  Bev- 
olution  he  encountered  considerable  mutation  in  for 
tune,  and  at  one  time  with  his  family  sought  refuge  in 
Fredericktown,  Maryland,  upon  the  return  of  peace  he 
quickly  recovered  his  losses  and  added  largely  to  his 
former  possessions. 

Considering  the  place  and  the  period,  Governor  Tel- 
fair's  commercial  operations  were  very  successful  and 
extensive.  He  maintained  good  credit  in,  and  impor 
tant  business  connections  with,  the  West  Indies,  Charles- 
town,  Philadelphia,  New  York,  Newport,  Liverpool, 
London,  etc.  Dealing  largely  in  rice,  lumber,  cotton, 
indigo,  and  other  staple  commodities,  he  operated  on 
his  own  account  and  sold  upon  commission.  As  the 
owner  of  sawmills  judiciously  located,  and  of  sev 
eral  valuable  plantations  well  equipped  with  negroes, 
animals,  and  agricultural  implements,  his  income  — 
aside  from  that  derived  from  his  commercial  business 
—  was  generous.  A  capital  financier,  he  became  one 
of  the  richest  men  of  his  day  and  generation  in  Geor 
gia  ;  and  the  estate  which  he  accumulated  —  properly 
husbanded  and  judiciously  administered  by  his  daugh 
ters  —  has  recently  been  dispensed  in  public  charities 
of  the  most  useful  and  abundant  character.  Prominent 
among  them  may  be  mentioned  Hodgson  Hall  —  the 
home  of  the  Georgia  Historical  Society  —  and  the  Tel- 
fair  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences.  In  passing  upon 
and  sustaining  the  charitable  bequests  contained  in  the 
will  of  Miss  Telfair,  when  their  validity  was  questioned 
in  the  courts,  Mr.  Justice  Bradley  observed :  u  It  is  a 
laudable  ambition  to  wish  to  transmit  one's  name  to 


EDWARD    TELFAIR.  167 

posterity  by  deeds  of  beneficence.  The  millionaire  who 
leaves  the  world  without  doing  anything  for  the  bene 
fit  of  society,  or  for  the  advancement  of  science,  moral 
ity,  or  civilization,  turns  to  dust  and  is  forgotten ;  but 
he  who  employs  a  princely  fortune  in  founding  institu 
tions  for  the  alleviation  of  suffering  or  the  elevation  of 
his  race  erects  a  monument  more  noble,  and  generally 
more  effective  to  preserve  his  name,  than  the  Pyramids. 
Thousands  of  the  wealthy  and  the  noble  in  the  early 
days  of  English  civilization  are  deservedly  forgotten ; 
but  the  founders  of  colleges  in  Oxford  and  Cambridge 
will  be  borne  on  the  grateful  memories  of  Englishmen 
as  long  as  their  empire  lasts.  Harvard  and  Yale  in 
our  own  country  are  pertinent  examples  of  this  truth." 
In  the  history  of  testaments  Georgia  has  never  known 
charitable  bequests  of  such  magnitude  and  liberal  scope 
as  those  passing  under  the  wills  of  the  daughters  of 
Governor  Telfair,1  distributing  the  large  estate  which 
in  great  measure  was  accumulated  and  transmitted  by 
him.  Not  only  by  these  prominent  chanties,  but  also 
in  the  records  of  the  period,  and  by  a  county  named  in 
his  honor,  is  his  memory  worthily  perpetuated. 

1  His  will  was  probated  in  Chatham  County  on  the  4th  of  January, 
1808,  and  is  now  of  file  in  the  Ordinary's  Office  in  Savannah. 


GEORGE    WALTON. 

IT  was  a  remark  of  D'Alembert  that  high  office 
resembles  a  pyramid,  the  summit  of  which  can  be 
reached  only  by  reptiles  and  eagles. 

We  recall  no  citizen  of  Georgia  who,  during  a  life 
extending  over  little  more  than  half  a  century,  ac 
quired  loftier  or  more  numerous  honors  within  the 
gift  of  the  Commonwealth  than  the  Honorable  George 
Walton.  In  the  attainment,  enjoyment,  and  execution 
of  the  political  and  judicial  trusts  committed  to  his 
keeping,  no  slime  of  the  serpent  besmirched  his  path 
way.  In  the  discharge  of  the  duties  devolved  upon  him 
he  was  fearless,  conscientious,  and  capable.  In  all  sta 
tions  he  fulfilled  every  legitimate  expectation.  With 
out  the  adjuvatives  of  birth,  education,  and  fortune, 
he  won  and  maintained  his  right  to  preferment  by 
conscientious  endeavor,  consecutive  study,  tireless  in 
dustry,  and  unquestioned  ability.  His  life,  labors,  and 
success  afford  brilliant  illustration  of  what,  in  this 
democratic  country,  may  be  achieved  by  honesty  of 
purpose,  natural  talent,  courageous  action,  earnest 
effort,  and  inflexible  will. 

Born  in  Prince  Edward  County,  Virginia,  in  1749, 
and  becoming  an  orphan  at  a  tender  age,  he  passed 
under  the  care  of  a  guardian  who,  as  the  family  tradi 
tion  runs,  unwilling  to  assume  the  burden  of  his  cus 
tody  and  education,  apprenticed  him  to  a  carpenter. 
The  industry  and  fidelity  of  the  lad  were  commend- 


GEORGE   WALTON.  169 

able,  and  his  desire  for  intellectual  improvement  at 
tracted  the  notice  both  of  employer  and  companions. 
Unable,  during  the  day,  to  give  any  attention  to  his 
books,  and  too  poor  to  afford  the  luxury  of  a  lamp,  he 
read  them  nightly  by  the  light  of  fat  fagots  which  he 
collected  and  husbanded  for  that  purpose.  Intent  upon 
his  studies,  he  refrained  from  those  nocturnal  sports 
which  too  often  lead  the  young  and  inexperienced 
into  dissipation,  idleness,  and  sometimes  ruin.  By  judi 
cious  use  of  his  evening  hours  he  made,  under  the  cir 
cumstances,  rapid  advancement  in  knowledge ;  eagerly 
perusing  all  good  books  which  could  be  borrowed  from 
friends  and  neighbors. 

So  favorably  impressed  was  the  master  with  the 
character,  intelligence,  and  ambition  of  his  apprentice 
that  long  before  his  articles  were  concluded  he  relieved 
him  from  their  obligation,  and  permitted  him  to  retain 
the  fruits  of  his  daily  industry.  Thus  young  Walton 
accumulated  some  money,  which  enabled  him,  when 
about  twenty  years  of  age,  to  leave  Virginia  and  seek 
new  fortunes  in  Savannah. 

Arriving  at  this  little  commercial  metropolis  of  the 
Colony  of  Georgia,  he  resolved  to  become  a  lawyer. 
Henry  Young,  Esq.,  received  him  into  his  office,  and 
gave  him  the  benefit  of  his  library  and  of  his  instruc 
tion.  After  suitable  preparation  he  was  called  to  the 
bar,  and  at  once  entered  with  zeal  upon  the  practice 
of  the  profession  of  his  choice.  That  success  early 
attended  upon  his  efforts  may  be  fairly  admitted  ;  for 
we  have  before  us  an  opinion  given  by  him  to  Edward 
Telfair,  Esq.  —  then  a  gentleman  of  influence  and 
ample  means,  afterwards  a  member  of  the  Continental 
Congress  and  a  Governor  of  Georgia  —  upon  a  ques- 


170  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

tion  of  considerable  moment.  This  opinion  was  fur 
nished  in  1774,  and  his  employment  by  so  prominent 
a  merchant  as  Mr.  Telfair  speaks  well  for  the  standing 
of  the  young  attorney  in  the  community. 

In  1777  he  married  Dorothy  Camber,  —  young  and 
fair,  —  to  whom  he  was  devotedly  attached,  and  from 
whom,  during  the  progress  of  the  war  of  the  Re  volu 
tion,  he  for  some  time  suffered  painful  separation. 

The  passage  of  the  Boston  Port  Bill,  the  first  step 
in  a  system  of  coercive  measures  adopted  by  the  Brit 
ish  ministry  ;  —  of  a  second  act,  which  provided  that 
the  Provincial  Council  of  Massachusetts — previously 
elected  by  the  representative  assembly  in  accordance 
with  charter  privileges  —  should  thereafter  be  ap 
pointed  by  the  Crown  ;  that  the  Royal  Governor  should 
be  invested  with  the  power  of  nominating  and  remov 
ing  judges,  sheriffs,  and  other  executive  officers  whose 
functions  possessed  the  slightest  importance  ;  that  jury 
men,  hitherto  selected  by  the  freeholders  and  citizens 
of  the  several  towns,  should  in  future  be  nominated 
and  summoned  by  the  sheriffs ;  that  no  town-meetings 
of  the  inhabitants  should  be  convoked  without  permis 
sion  in  writing  from  the  Royal  Governor,  and  that  no 
business  should  then  be  discussed  other  than  the  mat 
ters  specified  and  approved  in  the  Governor's  license  ; 
—  and  of  a  third  act,  which  empowered  the  Governor 
of  the  Province,  if  he  saw  fit,  to  commit  any  parties 
indicted  for  murder  or  charged  with  capital  offenses, 
for  trial,  either  to  another  Colony  or  to  Great  Britain, 
aroused  the  opposition  of  liberal  statesmen  in  England, 
and  was  justly  regarded  in  America  as  forming  a 
complete  system  of  tyranny.  By  the  first,  exclaimed 
the  organs  of  popular  opinion  in  the  Colonies,  thou- 


GEORGE   WALTON.  171 

sands  of  innocent  persons  are,  by  the  act  of  a  few 
individuals,  robbed  of  their  livelihood  ;  by  the  second, 
chartered  liberties  are  annihilated ;  and  by  the  third, 
lives  may  be  destroyed  with  impunity.  The  passage  of 
the  Quebec  Bill  also  enhanced  the  general  indignation. 

A  knowledge  of  this  legislation  and  an  apprehension 
of  its  pernicious  influence  inflamed  the  minds  of  the  pa 
triots  in  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  and  induced  them 
to  give  early  and  decided  expression  to  their  views  of 
condemnation  and  opposition. 

Responding  to  a  public  call,  a  respectable  number  of 
the  freeholders  and  inhabitants  of  the  Province  assem 
bled  at  the  Watch  House,  in  Savannah,  on  the  27th  of 
July,  1774.  After  an  animated  discussion,  a  commit 
tee  was  raised,  of  which  George  Walton  was  a  mem 
ber,  to  prepare  resolutions  —  similar  to  those  adopted 
by  the  Northern  Colonies  —  declaratory  of  Georgia's 
condemnation  of  the  oppressive  measures  inaugurated 
by  Parliament.  That  there  might  be  an  expression 
of  opinion  from  some  of  the  more  distant  parishes, 
—  unrepresented  in  this  convocation,  —  the  meeting 
"  stood  adjourned  "  until  the  10th  of  the  following 
August. 

Alarmed  at  the  drift  of  events,  Governor  Wright 
convened  his  Council  and  consulted  as  to  the  best 
method  of  checking  proceedings  which  he  denounced 
as  unjustifiable  and  revolutionary.  As  a  result  of  the 
conference,  Sir  James  issued  a  proclamation  pronoun 
cing  the  purposed  assemblage  "  unconstitutional,  illegal, 
and  punishable  by  law,"  and  warned  all  loyal  subjects 
of  his  Majesty  to  refrain  from  participating  therein. 
In  direct  opposition  to  the  wish  of  his  Excellency,  and 
in  utter  disregard  of  his  proclamation,  a  large  meeting 


172  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Province  was  held  at  Ton- 
dee's  Tavern,  in  Savannah,  at  the  time  designated. 
Resolutions,  framed  by  the  committee  selected  at  the 
previous  assemblage,  were  unanimously  adopted,  claim 
ing  that  as  protection  and  allegiance  were  reciprocal 
and,  under  the  British  Constitution,  correlative  terms, 
his  Majesty's  subjects  in  America  had  a  clear  and 
indisputable  right  to  petition  the  Throne  upon  every 
emergency;  condemning  Parliamentary  legislation  with 
regard  to  the  port  of  Boston,  the  abolition  of  the 
Charter  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  the  attempt  to  tax 
without  representation,  and  the  effort  to  deprive  any 
colonist  of  the  privilege  of  trial  by  his  peers  from  the 
vicinage ;  promising  cooperation  with  sister  Ameri 
can  Colonies  in  'all  constitutional  measures  to  obtain 
redress  of  American  grievances,  and  in  the  effort  to 
maintain  the  inestimable  blessings  derived  from  God 
and  the  Magna  Charta ;  and  appointing  a  committee 
of  conference  with  full  powers,  and  also  a  special  com 
mittee  to  solicit,  receive,  and  forward  subscriptions  and 
supplies  for  the  suffering  poor  in  Boston.  With  the 
preparation  and  support  of  these  patriotic  and  compre 
hensive  resolutions  George  Walton  was  earnestly  and 
prominently  connected. 

As  might  be  well  imagined,  the  effect  of  this  con 
vention,  and  of  the  adoption  of  these  resolutions,  was 
to  confirm  the  division  of  sentiment  in  Georgia  upon 
the  political  questions  of  the  day.  The  Royal  party 
was  strong  and  alert,  while  the  "  Liberty  Boys  "  were 
intent  upon  acquiring  the  mastery  and  placing  the 
Province  fairly  within  the  lists  of  the  Revolutionists. 

Although  a  motion  to  "  send  six  deputies  to  the 
General  Congress  of  the  American  Colonies  "  was  en- 


GEORGE  WALTON.  173 

tertained  and  pressed,  it  did  not  receive  the  sanction 
of  the  meeting  of  the  10th  of  August. 

To  the  Republicans  the  position  occupied  by  Geor 
gia  was  distasteful  and  mortifying.  From  her  isolated 
attitude,  from  her  apparent  indifference  to  the  com 
pact  into  which  the  American  Colonies  had  entered, 
from  the  controlling  influence  of  Governor  Wright  and 
his  Council,  and  from  the  ban  under  which  she  was 
placed  in  the  esteem  of  the  Confederated  Provinces  by 
her  failure  to  participate  in  the  deliberations  of  and  to 
be  bound  by  the  conclusions  reached  by  the  Continen 
tal  Congress,  they  determined  to  liberate  her  at  the 
earliest  practicable  moment. 

St.  John's  Parish,  impatient  of  the  delay,  acted  upon 
her  own  responsibility ;  and,  in  advance  of  the  Colony, 
sent  Dr.  Lyman  Hall  as  a  special  Delegate  to  the  Con 
tinental  Congress. 

On  the  21st  of  June,  1775,  a  call  was  published,  signed 
by  Noble  Wyrnberley  Jones,  Archibald  Bulloch,  John 
Houstoun,  and  George  Walton,  requesting  the  inhabi 
tants  of  the  town  and  district  of  Savannah  to  meet  at 
the  Liberty  Pole  on  the  following  day,  at  ten  o'clock  in 
the  forenoon,  for  the  purpose  of  selecting  a  committee 
to  bring  about  a  union  of  Georgia  with  her  sister  Colo 
nies  in  the  cause  of  freedom.  The  alarming  situation 
of  affairs  in  America,  and  particularly  in  Georgia,  was 
urged  as  a  reason  for  punctual  and  full  attendance. 

At  the  appointed  place  and  designated  hour  many 
were  present ;  and  a  Council  of  Safety,  consisting 
of  William  Ewen,  William  Le  Conte,  Joseph  Clay, 
Basil  Cooper,  Samuel  Elbert,  William  Young,  Elisha 
Butler,  Edward  Telfair,  John  Glen,  George  Hous 
toun,  George  Walton,  Joseph  Habersham,  Francis  H. 


174  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Harris,  John  Smith,  John  Morel,  and  Seth  John 
Cuthbert,  was  selected,  with  instructions  to  maintain 
an  active  correspondence  with  the  Continental  Con 
gress,  with  Councils  of  Safety  in  other  Provinces,  and 
with  committees  raised  in  Georgia  parishes.  This 
business  concluded,  a  number  of  gentlemen  who  had 
attended  the  meeting  dined  at  Tondee's  Tavern.  A 
Union  flag  was  hoisted  upon  the  Liberty  Pole,  at  the 
foot  of  which  two  field  pieces  were  posted  ;  thirteen 
patriotic  toasts  were  drunk,  each  being  responded  to  by 
discharges  from  the  cannon  and  by  martial  music  :  and 
all  this  within  sight  and  hearing  of  the  Royal  Governor 
and  his  Council.  It  was  daily  becoming  more  evident 
that  the  power  of  the  King's  party  in  Georgia  was  on 
the  wane  ;  that  the  period  of  doubt  and  hesitation  was 
nearing  an  end  ;  and  that  the  Province  would  soon  be 
prepared  to  link  her  fortunes  with  those  of  her  twelve 
sisters.  Meetings  were  called  in  all  the  parishes  to 
commission  Delegates  to  a  Provincial  Congress  which 
was  to  assemble  in  Savannah  on  the  4th  of  July,  1775. 
The  Colony  was  thoroughly  aroused,  and  resolved  upon 
decisive  action.  Even  Governor  Wright, —  hitherto 
so  hopeful  of  the  future,  and  entertaining  such  high 
impression  of  the  power  of  the  Royal  party,  —  in  a  let 
ter  to  Lord  Dartmouth,  under  date  of  the  17th  of 
June,  expressed  the  belief  that  the  members  of  the 
approaching  convention  would  not  fail  to  "  entirely 
approve  of  whatever  might  be  determined  upon  by 
the  Continental  Congress." 

Memorable  in  the  political  annals  of  Georgia  were 
the  proceedings  of  this  Provincial  Congress  which  con 
vened  in  Savannah  on  the  4th  of  July,  1775.  Every 
parish  was  represented,  and  the  Delegates  were  fitting 


GEORGE   WALTON.  175 

exponents  of  the  intelligence,  the  dominant  hopes,  and 
the  material  interests  of  the  communities  from  which 
they  respectively  came.  This  was  Georgia's  first  seces 
sion  convention.  It  placed  the  Province  in  active  sym 
pathy  and  confederated  alliance  with  the  twelve  other 
American  Colonies,  practically  annulled  within  her 
limits  the  operation  of  the  objectionable  acts  of  Par 
liament,  questioned  the  supremacy  of  the  Eealm,  and 
inaugurated  measures  calculated  to  accomplish  the  in 
dependence  of  the  plantation  and  its  erection  into  the 
dignity  of  a  State.  In  all  the  political  agitations  and 
movements  which  antedated  and  led  up  to  this  impor 
tant  convocation,  George  Walton  had  borne  a  promi 
nent  part.  He  stood  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  Archi 
bald  Bulloch,  Noble  Wymberley  Jones,  John  Houstoun, 
the  brothers  Joseph  and  John  Habersham,  Jonathan 
Bryan,  Joseph  Clay,  Edward  Telfair,  and  others  who 
were  specially  influential  in  dissipating  the  power  of 
kingly  rule. 

This  Congress  perfected  its  organization  by  electing 
Archibald  Bulloch  president  and  George  Walton  secre 
tary.  While  it  lies  not  within  the  compass  of  this 
sketch  to  enumerate  its  proceedings,  we  may  state  in 
a  general  way  that  it  proclaimed,  in  terms  most  em 
phatic,  a  just  conception  of  the  natural  and  constitu 
tional  rights  which  appertained  to  Georgians  as  citi 
zens  of  the  Colony  and  subjects  of  Great  Britain; 
testified  determined  opposition  to  the  late  objection 
able  acts  of  Parliament ;  expressed  admiration  for  the 
heroism  of  New  England,  and  a  stern  resolve  to  share 
the  fortunes  of  the  sister  Colonies  ;  appointed  Delegates 
to,  and  manifested  a  willingness  to  observe  all  orders 
promulgated  by,  the  Continental  Congress ;  professed 


176  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

unswerving  loyalty  to  the  principles  of  American  lib 
erty,  and  suggested  measures  deemed  appropriate  in 
the  present  perplexed  condition  of  public  affairs. 

Mr.  Walton  was  appointed  upon  the  "  Committee 
of  Intelligence,"  and  was  also  named  as  one  of  the 
members  to  present  the  "Article  of  Association,"  then 
adopted,  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  and  district  of 
Savannah  for  signature  by  them.  In  association  with 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Zubly,  Dr.  Noble  W.  Jones,  and  William 
Young,  he  was  commissioned  to  prepare  and  submit 
to  the  people  of  Georgia  an  address  containing  an 
account  of  the  state  of  American  affairs,  and  a  narra 
tive  of  the  proceedings  of  this  Provincial  Congress. 
This  address,  which  is  said  to  have  been  framed  by  Mr. 
Walton,  is  a  model  of  its  kind. 

In  defiance  of  the  protest  of  Governor  Wright,  Mr. 
Walton  and  his  associates  of  the  Council  of  Safety 
thoroughly  purged  the  militia  of  the  Loyal  element 
which  lurked  in  the  ranks  of  its  commissioned  officers. 
By  a  resolution  of  this  Provincial  Congress,  he  wras 
continued  as  a  member  of  the  Council  of  Safety ;  and 
of  that  body  he  was,  in  December,  1775,  chosen  presi 
dent,  with  Edward  Langworthy  as  secretary. 

The  onward  march  of  the  Revolution  was  rapid  and 
irresistible.  Everything  passed  quickly  under  the  do 
minion  of  the  patriots.  Even  the  Royal  Governor, 
escaping  from  confinement,  fled  the  Province,  and 
there  was  no  one  left  to  dispute  the  supremacy  of  the 
"  Sons  of  Liberty." 

Archibald  Bulloch  was  elected  president  of  the  Pro 
vincial  Congress  which  assembled  in  Savannah  on  the 
20th  of  January,  1776.  That  sterling  patriot,  and 
John  Houstoun,  Lyman  Hall,  Button  Gwinnett,  and 


GEORGE  WALTON.  177 

George  Walton  were  then  chosen  as  Delegates  to  the 
Continental  Congress.  To  them  this  official  communi 
cation  was  addressed  : 

"  GENTLEMEN,  —  Our  remote  situation  from  both  the 
seat  of  power  and  arms  keeps  us  so  very  ignorant  of 
the  counsels  and  ultimate  designs  of  the  Congress  and 
of  the  transactions  in  the  field,  that  we  shall  decline 
giving  any  particular  instructions  other  than  strongly 
to  recommend  it  to  you  that  you  never  lose  sight  of 
the  Province ;  the  Indians,  both  south  and  northwest 
wardly  upon  our  backs ;  the  fortified  town  of  St.  Au 
gustine,  made  a  continual  rendezvous  for  soldiers  in 
our  very  neighborhood  ;  together  with  our  blacks  and 
Tories  with  us  :  let  these  weighty  truths  be  the  power 
ful  arguments  for  support.  At  the  same  time  we  also 
recommend  it  to  you  always  to  keep  in  view  the  gen 
eral  utility,  remembering  that  the  great  and  righteous 
cause  in  which  we  are  engaged  is  not  provincial,  but 
continental.  We  therefore,  gentlemen,  shall  rely  upon 
your  patriotism,  abilities,  firmness,  and  integrity  to 
propose,  join,  and  concur  in  all  such  measures  as  you 
shall  think  calculated  for  the  common  good,  and  to 
oppose  such  as  shall  appear  destructive." 

With  the  exception  of  an  interval  in  1779,  when  he 
filled  the  gubernatorial  chair  of  Georgia,  Mr.  Walton 
was  continued  as  a  member  of  the  Continental  Con 
gress  until  October,  1781.  In  association  with  Button 
Gwinnett  and  Lyman  Hall  he  affixed  his  signature  to 
the  Declaration  of  Independence.  As  a  member  of  the 
Treasury  Board,  of  the  Committee  on  Naval  Affairs, 
and  of  other  committees,  he  rendered  intelligent  and 
willing  service.  With  Kobert  Morris  and  George  Cly- 

mer  he  was  commissioned  to  transact  such  continental 
12 


178  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

business  as  might  be  fouud  necessary  to  be  done  in 
Philadelphia;  and  George  Taylor  and  himself  were 
appointed  commissioners  to  make  presents  to,  and  con 
fer  with,  the  Indians  at  Easton,  Pennsylvania.  It  was 
upon  his  motion,  in  1780,  that  the  Treasury  Board  was 
empowered  to  draw  bills  of  exchange,  aggregating 
$100,000  in  specie,  at  ninety  days,  upon  the  Honorable 
Benjamin  Franklin,  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  the 
United  States  near  the  court  of  Versailles. 

With  Edward  Telfair  and  Edward  Langworthy,  on 
the  9th  of  July,  1778,  he  signed  the  Articles  of  Con 
federation  ;  and  on  the  17th  of  the  following  Decem 
ber  he  and  Dr.  Lyman  Hall,  as  special  commissioners 
from  Georgia,  waited  upon  General  Lincoln  at  Charles- 
town  "  to  inform  him  of  the  true  situation  of  matters 
in  this  State,  and  show  how  essentially  requisite  it  was 
that  some  vigorous  and  decisive  measures  should  be 
taken  for  its  defense  against  the  incursions  of  its  south, 
ern  neighbors." 

When  Colonel  Campbell,  late  in  December,  1778, 
effected  a  landing  at  Girardeau's  Bluff  and  moved 
upon  Savannah,  defended  by  General  Eobert  Howe, 
George  Walton,  —  who  then  held  the  rank  of  Colonel l 
of  the  First  Battalion  of  the  First  Regiment  of  Foot 
Militia  formed  for  the  defense  of  Georgia,  —  with  one 
hundred  men,  was  posted  on  the  South  Common,  on 
the  right  of  the  American  line,  to  guard  the  road  lead 
ing  to  Great  Ogeechee  Ferry.  Although  informed  by 
Colonel  Walton  that  there  was  a  private  way  through 
the  swamp,  by  means  of  which  the  enemy  could  pass 
from  the  high  grounds  of  Brewton  Hill  plantation  and 

1  This  commission  was   issued   by  the    Honorable  Archibald    Bulloch, 
then  Governor  of  Georgia,  and  bears  date  January  9,  1777. 


GEORGE  WALTON.  179 

gain  the  rear  of  the  American  right,  and  although 
urged  by  him  to  have  that  route  properly  observed, 
General  Howe  neglected  to  give  the  matter  any  at 
tention.  The  consequence  was  that  Sir  James  Baird, 
with  the  I  ight  Infantry,  —  supported  by  the  New  York 
Volunteers  under  Colonel  Trumbull,  —  conducted  by 
a  negro  guide,  following  this  unguarded  route,  gained 
the  rear  of  the  American  right,  and,  falling  heavily 
upon  the  militia  detachment  commanded  by  Colonel 
Walton,  dispersed  it  with  great  loss.  In  this  shock, 
Colonel  Walton,  severely  wounded  in  the  thigh,  fell 
from  his  horse  and  was  captured. 

At  the  sound  of  these  guns,  Colonel  Campbell,  run 
ning  his  field  pieces  to  the  front,  opened  fire  upon  the 
brigades  of  Huger  and  Elbert,  and  ordered  a  vigorous 
charge  all  along  his  line.  Attacked  in  front  and  rear, 
General  Howe's  forces  gave  way.  A  retreat  was 
sounded ;  a  panic  ensued ;  and  the  Americans,  retreat 
ing  in  a  disorderly  manner  through  Savannah,  made 
their  way,  as  best  they  could,  to  the  high  ground 
beyond  the  Springfield  plantation  swamp,  leaving  the 
town  and  all  that  it  contained  open  to  the  victor. 

By  the  musket-ball  which  he  received  while  endeav 
oring  with  his  militia  to  stay  the  onset  of  Sir  James 
Baird,  Colonel  Walton's  thigh  was  broken.  Judge  T. 
U.  P.  Charlton  says  that  he  never  recovered  from  the 
effect  of  this  wound,  but  limped  to  the  day  of  his 
death. 

The  following  letter  (the  original  of  which  lies  before 
us),  penned  with  a  trembling  hand  from  his  couch  of 
pain,  and  addressed  to  his  young  wife,  will  be  read 
with  interest :  — 


180  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

"  SAVANNAH,  4  January,  1779, 11  o'clock,  p.  M. 

"  MY  DEAR  GIRL,  —  I  was  very  happy  to  hear  just  this 
moment,  by  a  flag,  that  you  were  safely  arrived  in 
Carolina.  It  is  my  earnest  desire  that  you  keep  with 
your  sister  until  you  hear  from  me  again.  Your  dear 
rnamma  continues  still  extremely  ill  at  our  house,  and 
I  am  afraid  that  she  cannot  long  survive. 

"  The  day  you  left  your  brother  and  myself,  my 
dear  Dolly,  in  the  chances  of  it  I  received  a  wound  in 
the  thigh.  The  bone  is  broke,  but  cures  of  this  kind 
are  quite  common.  I  have  every  possible  comfort 
from  my  conquerors,  —  their  hospital  surgeons  to  at 
tend  me,  with  Trail,  Irvine,  and  Brydie.  And  they 
tell  me  they  expect  to  see  me  do  well.  Be  therefore 
of  good  spirits  ;  and  let  me  not  hear  by  every  flag  that 
you  are  inconsolable,  which  will  only  operate  to  de 
press  mine.  At  any  rate,  you  ought  to  recollect  that 
in  these  troublesome  times  you  have  no  right  to  ex 
pect  a  life  of  superior  tranquillity  to  your  neighbors. 

"  My  love  to  Polly.  Brisbane  is  in  town,  perfectly 
well.  I  suppose  he  writes  by  this  flag,  tho'  I  know 
nothing  about  it,  having  just  been  apprised  of  it  my 
self. 

"  God  bless  you,  my  dear,  and  remember  that  you 
are  sincerely  loved  by  a  man  who  wishes  to  make 
honor  and  reputation  the  rule  of  all  his  actions. 

"GEO.  WALTON." 

We  reproduce  also  the  following  letter  from  General 
Howe,  expressive  of  his  sympathy  with  the  wounded 
officer,  and  commending  him  for  his  gallant  conduct 
on  this  unfortunate  occasion  :  — 


GEORGE  WALTON.  181 

"Deer  30,   1778. 

"  My  heart  bled  for  your  distress,  my  dear  Walton, 
when  I  saw  you  yesterday.  The  fortitude  with  which 
you  bore  it  is  worthy  of  yourself.  I  express  to  you 
the  high  approbation  I  have  of  your  conduct  thro'  the 
whole  military  procedure  since  this  alarm  happened, 
and  in  particular  in  the  affair  of  yesterday,  of  which  I 
can  never  speak  but  with  applause  without  acting  con 
trary  to  the  dictates  of  my  heart.  Keep  up  your 
spirits.  Inform  me  how  you  are,  and  be  assured  that 
I  am,  dear  sir,  with  great  regard, 

"  Sincerely  yours,  &c., 

"  EGBERT  HOWE. 

"  P.  S.  I  dare  say  you  will  be  permitted  to  write  to 
me ;  and  if  you  are  able,  pray  do.  Is  there  anything 
in  which  I  can  serve  you  ? 

"  COLONEL  WALTON." 

When  so  far  recovered  from  his  hurt  as  to  be  able  to 
walk,  Colonel  Walton  was  allowed  to  proceed  to  Sun- 
bury,  where  for  some  time  he  remained  a  prisoner  of 
war.  In  consideration  of  the  fact  that  he  was  a  member 
of  the  Continental  Congress,  that  he  had  signed  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  and  that  he  was  a  promi 
nent  citizen,  the  British  authorities  at  first  demanded 
in  exchange  an  officer  with  the  rank  of  brigadier-gen 
eral.  His  term  of  service  in  the  Continental  Congress 
having  expired,  he  was  finally  exchanged  for  a  captain 
in  the  navy,  and  proceeded  to  Augusta,  which  was 
then  the  capital  of  republican  Georgia. 

By  the  General  Assembly  which  convened  in  that 
town  in  November,  1779,  Colonel  Walton  was  elected 
Governor  of  the  infant  Commonwealth.  There  were 


182  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

then  two  Executive  Councils  actually  organized  and 
claiming  to  exercise  important  functions  within  the 
limits  of  the  State  wasted  by  a  common  enemy  and 
rent  by  internal  feuds.  Violent  were  the  collisions  of 
parties,  and  confused  was  the  administration  of  public 
affairs.  Southern  Georgia  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
enemy,  and  the  republican  government  of  the  upper 
portion  of  the  State  was  impecunious,  weak,  and  peri 
patetic.  Fortunately,  little  necessity  existed  for  the 
office  either  of  legislator  or  of  governor. 

During  his  term  of  service  an  episode  occurred 
which,  in  view  of  the  past  life  of  Governor  Walton, 
appeared  very  strange,  and  militated  against  his  vera 
city  and  fair  dealing.  To  this  day  no  satisfactory 
explanation  has  been  offered.  His  friendship  for  But 
ton  Gwinnett,  and  his  disappointment  both  at  the 
result  of  the  political  contest  with  Treutlen  and  the 
unfortunate  issue  of  the  duel  with  Mclntosh,  while 
affording  ground  for  strong  enmity  towards  the  Gen 
eral,  suggest  no  justification  of  the  means  used  to 
undermine  his  influence  and  compass  his  overthrow. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  in  consequence  of  his 
disagreement  and  duel  with  Gwinnett,  and  the  deplor 
able  want  of  accord  between  the  civil  and  military 
authorities  in  Georgia  in  1777,  General  Mclntosh  had 
been  induced  to  quit  his  service  at  home  and  seek 
employment  in  some  other  quarter.  Ketuming  after 
an  absence  of  more  than  two  years,  during  the  siege 
of  Savannah  and  in  the  bloody  assault  by  the  allied 
army  upon  the  British  works  around  that  town  on  the 
morning  of  the  9th  of  October,  1779,  he  had  given 
fresh  proof  of  his  courage,  and  of  his  devotion  to  State 
and  nation.  While  absent  from  Georgia  he  received 


GEORGE  WALTON.  183 

a  letter  from  George  Walton,  in  which,  commenting 
upon  the  unfortunate  condition  of  affairs,  he  said : 
"The  demon  Discord  yet  presides  in  this  country,  and 
God  only  knows  when  his  reign  will  be  at  an  end.  I 
have  strove  so  hard  to  do  good  with  so  poor  a  return, 
that,  were  the  liberties  of  America  secure,  I  would  bid 
adieu  to  all  public  employment,  to  politics,  and  to 
strife ;  for  even  virtue  itself  will  meet  with  enmity." 

It  was  General  Mclntosh's  hope  that  time  had  healed 
all  wounds,  and  that,  without  reproach,  he  would  be 
permitted  to  devote  his  energies  and  military  talents 
to  the  defense  of  Georgia.  In  this  expectation  he  was 
mistaken.  On  the  30th  of  November,  1779,  a  letter 
purporting  to  be  signed  by  William  Glascock,  Speaker 
of  the  Georgia  House  of  Representatives,  was  transmit 
ted  to  the  President  of  the  Continental  Congress  by 
George  Walton,  Governor  of  Georgia.  Congress  was 
therein  assured  of  the  dissatisfaction  of  the  people  of 
Georgia  at  the  assignment  of  General  Mclntosh  to 
the  command  of  the  military  forces  in  that  State.  It 
was  earnestly  recommended  that  the  national  assem 
bly  would,  while  he  remained  in  commission,  indicate 
"  some  distant  field  for  the  exercise  of  his  abilities." 
So  thoroughly  did  this  communication  —  supplemented 
by  the  representations  of  General  Mclntosh's  enemies 
—  poison  the  minds  of  the  members  of  that  body  that 
on  the  15th  of  February,  1780,  they  voted  to  "dispense 
with  the  services  of  Brigadier-General  Mclntosh  until 
the  further  order  of  Congress." 

Informed  of  this  correspondence,  General  Mclntosh 
promptly  demanded  an  explanation  from  its  alleged 
author.  Mr.  Glascock  at  once  denied  the  authenticity 
of  the  document,  and,  on  the  12th  of  May,  1780, 


184  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

addressed  a  letter  to  the  President  of  Congress  in 
which  he  denounced  the  communication  of  November, 
1779,  as  a  "flagrant  forgery/'  and  disclaimed  both 
knowledge  and  paternity  of  it.  He  added :  "  I  am 
glad  of  the  opportunity  of  informing  Congress  that 
so  far  is  that  forgery  from  truth,  that  I  believe  there 
is  not  a  respectable  citizen  or  officer  in  Georgia  who 
would  not  be  happy  in  serving  under  General  Mcln- 
tosh ;  nor  one  in  either  class  who  would  be  otherwise 
except  a  few  who  are  governed  by  design  or  self-inter 
est."  Mr.  Glascock  also  furnished  General  Mclntosh 
with  a  copy  of  this  communication. 

Strange  as  it  may  appear,  an  examination  into  the 
matter  disclosed  the  fact  that  the  letter  to  which  the 
name  of  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
was  forged  had  been  suggested,  dictated,  and  for 
warded  by  Governor  Walton  and  certain  members  of 
his  Council,  with  the  design  of  impairing  the  influence 
of  General  Mclntosh  and  compassing  his  removal  from 
military  command  in  Georgia.  Whether  Governor 
Walton  was  personally  cognizant  of  the  forgery,  or 
whether  he  was  deceived  and  imposed  upon  by  mem 
bers  of  his  Council  who  were  individually  responsible 
for  the  malevolent  act,  must  remain  in  doubt.  In  any 
event,  he  was  instrumental  in  promoting  a  nefarious 
scheme,  which,  fortunately,  failed  to  accomplish  the 
unlawful  result  at  which  it  aimed.  So  far  from  injur 
ing  the  popularity  and  usefulness  of  the  meritorious 
officer  whose  valuable  services  were  called  in  question, 
it  drew  down  upon  its  authors  the  condemnation  of  all 
fair-minded  people. 

Upon  the  termination  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  this 
whole  affair  formed  a  subject  of  inquiry  and  review 


GEORGE   WALTON.  185 

by  the  Georgia  Legislature.  On  the  journal  of  the 
House  of  Assembly,  under  date  of  January  30,  1783, 
appear  the  following  resolutions  :  — 

"  Eesolved,  that  they  have  examined  such  papers 
and  persons  as  have  been  offered  by  the  different  par 
ties,  from  which  it  appears  that  the  resolves  of  Council, 
dated  at  Augusta,  December  12,  1779,  and  the  letter 
from  Governor  Walton  to  the  President  of  Congress, 
dated  December  15,  1779,  respecting  General  Mcln- 
tosh,  were  unjust,  illiberal,  and  a  misrepresentation  of 
facts;  that  the  letter  said  to  be  from  William  Glascock, 
Speaker  of  the  Assembly,  dated  November  30,  1779, 
addressed  to  the  President  of  Congress,  appears  to  be 
a  forgery,  in  violation  of  law  and  truth,  and  highly 
injurious  to  the  interest  of  the  State,  and  dangerous 
to  the  rights  of  its  citizens ;  and  that  the  Attorney- 
General  be  ordered  to  make  the  necessary  inquiries, 
and  enter  such  prosecutions  as  may  be  consistent  with 
his  duty  and  office. 

"  Resolved,  that  General  Mclntosh  be  informed  that 
this  House  does  entertain  an  abhorrence  of  all  such 
injurious  attempts  made  use  of,  as  appears  by  the 
papers  laid  before  them,  to  injure  the  character  of  an 
officer  and  a  citizen  of  this  State  who  merits  the  atten 
tion  of  the  Legislature  for  his  early,  decided,  and  per 
severing  efforts  in  the  defense  of  America,  of  which 
virtue  this  House  has  the  highest  sense." 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  very  day  before  the 
adoption  of  these  resolutions  the  Legislature  had 
elected  George  Walton  Chief  Justice  of  the  State  of 
Georgia ;  thus  practically  rendering  impossible  any 
prosecution  so  far  as  he  was  concerned,  and  intimating 
that  he,  at  least,  was  not  personally  responsible  for  the 


186  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

forgery,  however  much  he  may  have  been  instrumen 
tal  in  endorsing  and  bringing  it  to  the  notice  of  the 
Continental  Congress. 

Short  and  uneventful  was  the  gubernatorial  career 
of  Mr.  Walton  in  1779.  By  the  ensuing  General  As 
sembly  Richard  Howley  was,  on  the  4th  of  January, 
1780,  elected  Governor,  and  Edward  Telfair,  George 
Walton,  Benjamin  Andrew,  Lyman  Hall,  and  William 
Few  were  appointed  Delegates  to  the  Continental 
Congress. 

While  members  of  and  in  attendance  upon  this  Con 
gress,  Messrs.  Walton,  Few,  and  Howley  apprehended 
that  it  was  the  design  of  the  British  ministry  to  submit 
overtures  of  peace  upon  the  basis  of  freedom  to  such 
portions  of  America  as  were  then  in  the  possession  of 
the  Revolutionists,  and  of  retention  by  the  Crown  of 
such  other  parts  as  were  actually  held  by  the  King's 
forces.  As  Georgia  at  that  time  was  largely  under 
the  dominion  of  the  enemy,  deeming  it  their  duty 
promptly  and  emphatically  to  protest  against  acquies 
cence  by  the  Continental  Congress  in  any  such  propo 
sition,  they  prepared  and  caused  to  be  printed  in  Phila 
delphia,  in  January,  1781,  over  their  own  signatures, 
a  pamphlet  entitled  "  Observations  upon  the  Effects  of 
certain  late  Political  Suggestions,  by  the  Delegates  of 
Georgia."  Referring  to  the  fact  that  Georgia  had  been 
in  great  measure  reduced  by  conquest,  they  entered 
forcible  plea  against  the  entertainment  of  the  doctrine 
of  uti  possidetis,  and  urged  that  inasmuch  as  the  in 
habitants  of  that  Province  had  united  in  the  common 
cause,  and  had  expended  their  blood  and  fortunes  in 
its  support,  "  it  would  be  unjust  and  inhuman  for  the 
other  parts  of  the  Union  separately  to  embrace  the 


GEORGE  WALTON.  187 

result  of  the  common  efforts,  and  leava  them  under  the 
yoke  of  a  bankrupt  and  enraged  tyrant."  "  To  pre 
serve  the  States  entire  is  the  object  of  the  alliance 
with  France,  and  it  cannot  be  the  interest  of  the  other 
great  branch  of  the  family  compact  that  we  should 
again  make  a  part  of  the  British  Empire.  .  .  .  Georgia 
is  a  material  part  of  the  Union,  and  cannot  be  given 
up  without  affecting  its  essential  interest,  if  not  endan 
gering  its  existence.  ...  As  to  America,  no  part  of  it 
could  expect  to  be  long  free  while  England  retains 
both  ends  of  the  continent." 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  effect  of  this  political 
tract,  certain  it  is  that,  if  memorialized  on  the  subject, 
the  Continental  Congress  declined  to  entertain  the 
rumored  basis  of  pacification.  With  the  authorship 
of  this  manly  protest  the  pen  of  Mr.  Walton  is  cred 
ited. 

In  January,  1783,  that  sterling  patriot  and  worthy 
gentleman,  Dr.  Lyman  Hall,  was  chosen  Governor  of 
Georgia,  and  on  the  31st  of  that  month  the  Honorable 
George  Walton  was  elected  to  fill  the  position  of  Chief 
Justice,  with  Samuel  Stirk  as  Attorney-General.  Geor 
gia  was  then  divided  into  eight  counties,  viz. :  Wilkes, 
Eichmond,  Burke,  Effingham,  Chatham,  Liberty,  Glynn, 
and  Camden.  In  each  county  there  were  two  Associ 
ate  Justices,  and  it  was  the  duty  of  the  Chief  Justice  to 
ride  the  circuit  of  all  the  counties.  These  journeys,  as 
they  were  necessarily  performed  in  stagecoach,  private 
conveyance,  or  on  horseback,  were  tedious  and  fatigu 
ing.  As  illustrative  of  Chief  Justice  Walton's  charges 
to  the  grand  juries,  we  select  the  following,  delivered 
in  Liberty  County  :  — 


188          BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

"  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  GRAND  JURY,  —  The  order  and 
decorum  with  which  the  business  of  the  last  circuit 
was  done  in  this  county  did  not  fail  in  producing  the 
most  general  satisfaction,  besides  affording  a  happy 
presage  of  the  best  efforts  in  future  from  regular 
courts  of  justice.  And  I  have  now  the  satisfaction  to 
inform  you  that  an  ardent  desire  for  a  strict  execution 
of  the  laws  is  prevalent  throughout  the  State. 

"  The  late  amazing  augmentation  of  the  number  of 
our  inhabitants  in  the  Western  District  will  soon  give 
a  new  feature  to  our  political  affairs,  —  a  consideration 
which  ought  to  command  the  earliest  attention  of  our 
elder  citizens.  In  dispensing  advantages,  the  mode 
should  be  our  own.  The  settlement  of  the  two  new 
counties  will  be  extremely  advantageous,  both  on  ac 
count  of  the  addition  to  our  national  strength  and  the 
increase  of  agriculture.  The  productions  of  the  lands 
bordering  upon  the  waters  of  the  Alatamaha  must,  for 
a  considerable  time,  centre  in  Sunbury ;  the  rebuilding, 
extension,  and  improvement  of  which  form  an  object 
well  worthy  your  attention.  It  has  been  devoted  to 
suffer  by  the  tempest  and  at  the  hands  of  our  late  cruel 
enemy;  however,  Union,  Industry,  and  Perseverance 
will  soon  recover  it.  But  while  we  contemplate  these 
things,  we  should  examine  whether  our  happiness  is 
secured  upon  a  lasting  foundation. 

"  The  number  of  the  inhabitants  which  conducted 
the  late  contest,  both  in  the  cabinet  and  the  field,  to 
its  glorious  issue  will  soon  be  inferior  to  that  which 
will  be  made  up  of  new  residents.  Is  it  not,  therefore, 
prudent  to  consider  whether  the  Constitution  —  the 
present  basis  of  our  laws  —  was  calculated  in  the  pros 
pect  of  such  an  event  ?  And  whether  it  would  not  be 


GEORGE  WALTON.  189 

wise  to  model  the  necessary  improvements  while  in 
our  power?  The  sacrifices  we  have  made  for  the 
establishment  of  the  liberties  of  this  country  should 
neither  be  forgotten  nor  their  rewards  relinquished. 
The  people  in  the  counties  lying  on  Savannah  Eiver 
are  promoting  petitions  for  that  end,  and  I  submit  the 
example  to  your  discretion  and  judgment. 

"  There  is  one  thing,  gentlemen,  that  I  cannot  for 
bear  to  mention  to  you  in  particular,  and  that  is  the 
extreme  inconvenient  periods  pointed  out  for  holding 
your  courts.  To  go  through  the  labour  of  riding  and 
attending  five  successive  courts,  at  the  distance  of  two 
hundred  miles  from  the  capital,  and  then  to  post  down 
forty  miles  further  to  Liberty  County,  is  distressing 
indeed,  and  too  much  to  be  punctually  performed.  I 
would  fain  hope,  therefore,  that  the  people  of  this 
county  will  promote  the  passing  of  an  act  authorizing 
the  next  circuit  to  begin  instead  of  ending  here,  which 
will  enable  the  law  officers  with  more  ease  and  cer 
tainty  to  perform  their  duty,  and  will  afford  time  for 
the  trial  of  appeals  which  now  are  or  may  be  made 
merely  for  a  delay  of  justice. 

"  Gentlemen,  I  have  heard  of  no  material  infrac 
tions  of  the  law  since  the  last  session.  If  there  have 
been  any,  the  magistrates  will  furnish  the  Attorney- 
General  with  the  necessary  informations,  and  they 
shall  be  duly  attended  to.  Your  local  evils,  if  you 
have  any,  you  will  please  to  make  known  to  the  public 
by  presentment.  GEO.  WALTON. 

.     "SUNBURY,  13  April,  1784." 

In  1787  Judge  Walton  was  appointed  a  Delegate 
from  the  State  of  Georgia 'to  the  Federal  Convention 


190          BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

charged  with  revising  the  Articles  of  Confederation, 
and  reporting  such  alterations  and  provisions  as  might 
be  deemed  adequate  to  the  emergencies  of  govern 
ment  and  the  preservation  of  the  Union.  Prevented 
by  judicial  engagements,  he  did  not  attend.  The  year 
previous  he  had  represented  Georgia  in  the  prelimi 
nary  settlement  of  differences  touching  the  boundary 
line  between  that  State  and  South  Carolina. 

In  1789  he  occupied  for  a  second  time  the  guberna 
torial  chair.  The  term  of  service  then  lasted  for  only 
one  year.  It  was  during  his  administration  that  Geor 
gia  remodeled  her  Constitution.  Augusta  was  still 
the  capital  of  the  State,  and  it  was  here  that  Gov 
ernor  Walton  received  from  the  President  of  the  Con 
stitutional  Convention  the  Constitution  then  adopted, 
affixed  the  seal  of  state  to  it,  and  proclaimed  its  provi 
sions  for  the  information  of  the  inhabitants.  As  indi 
cating  the  paucity  of  the  population  at  that  time,  the 
following  printed  copies  of  the  newly  adopted  Consti 
tution  were  deemed  sufficient  for  public  needs  and 
general  information  in  the  several  counties  then  com 
prised  within  the  limits  of  Georgia  :  "  Ordered,  that 
copies  of  the  Constitution  be  distributed  as  follows:  — 
To  Camden  County,  26  copies  ;  to  Glynn  County,  26 
copies ;  to  Liberty  County,  52  copies ;  to  Chatham 
County,  70  copies  ;  to  Effingham  County,  26  copies ; 
to  Burke  County,  52  copies ;  to  Kichmond  County,  52 
copies ;  to  Wilkes  County,  70  copies ;  to  Washington 
County,  26  copies ;  to  Greene  County,  26  copies ;  and 
to  Franklin  County,  26  copies." 

With  the  pacification  of  the  Creek  Indians,  and  with 
the  protection  of  the  frontiers  of  Georgia  against  their 
depredations,  Governor  Walton  was  largely  employed. 


GEORGE  WALTON.  191 

Upon  the  occasion  of  President  Washington's  visit  to 
Augusta  in  1791,  Judge  Walton  was  Chairman  of  the 
Reception  Committee,  and  on  behalf  of  the  citizens 
prepared  and  presented  the  Address  of  Welcome.  It 
was  couched  in  the  following  complimentary  terms  :  — 

"  To  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA  : 

"  SIR,  —  Your  journey  to  the  Southward  being  ex 
tended  to  the  frontier  of  the  Union,  affords  a  fresh 
proof  of  your  indefatigable  zeal  in  the  service  of  your 
country,  and  equal  attention  and  regard  to  all  the 
people  of  the  United  States.  With  these  impressions, 
the  citizens  of  Augusta  present  their  congratulations 
upon  your  arrival  here  in  health,  with  the  assurance 
that  it  will  be  their  greatest  pleasure,  during  your  stay 
with  them,  to  testify  the  sincere  affection  they  have 
for  your  person,  their  sense  of  obligation  for  your 
merits  and  for  your  services,  and  their  entire  confi 
dence  in  you  as  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  their  country. 
On  your  return,  and  at  all  times,  their  best  wishes  will 
accompany  you,  while  they  maintain  the  hope  that  a 
life  of  virtue,  benevolence,  and  patriotism  may  be  long 
preserved  for  the  benefit  of  the  age  and  the  example 
of  posterity." 

To  this  address  the  President  was  pleased  to  return 
the  following  answer :  — 

"  GENTLEMEN,  —  I  receive  your  congratulations  on 
my  arrival  in  Augusta  with  great  pleasure.  I  am 
much  obliged  by  your  assurances  of  regard,  and  thank 
you  with  unfeigned  sincerity  for  the  favorable  senti 
ments  you  are  pleased  to  express  towards  me. 


192  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

"  Entreating  you  to  be  persuaded  of  my  gratitude, 
I  desire  to  assure  you  that  it  will  afford  me  the  most 
sensible  satisfaction  to  learn  the  progression  of  your 
prosperity.  My  best  wishes  for  your  happiness,  collec 
tively  and  individually,  are  sincerely  offered." 

In  1795  and  1796  Mr.  Walton  represented  Georgia 
as  a  Senator  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Union  Society  of  Savannah,  and 
a  trustee  of  the  Eichrnond  Academy.  As  one  of  the 
first  trustees  of  the  University  of  Georgia,  he  rendered 
valuable  service  in  formulating  plans  and  adopting 
measures  for  the  promotion  of  higher  education  in 
Georgia. 

For  many  years,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death,  he 
was  Judge  of  the  Middle  Circuit  of  this  Commonwealth. 
The  State  was  then  divided  into  three  judicial  districts, 
—  the  Eastern,  the  Middle,  and  the  Western.  The 
Middle  Circuit  embraced  the  following  counties  :  Sere- 
ven,  Burke,  Montgomery,  Washington,  Warren,  Rich 
mond,  Columbia,  and  Jefferson.  As  a  judge,  few  men 
in  this  Commonwealth  ever  attained  unto,  and  none 
transcended,  the  reputation  acquired  and  maintained 
by  Mr.  Walton. 

Upon  the  conclusion  of  peace  he  established  his 
home  near  Augusta,  and  there  resided  until  the  day  of 
his  death,  spending  his  winters  upon  his  farm,  called 
"  Meadow  Garden,"  l  then  on  the  outskirts  of  the  town, 
and  now  within  the  corporate  limits  of  the  city,  and 
his  summers  on  Mount  Salubrity,  afterwards  known 
as  the  Sand  Hills,  and  at  present  within  the  confines 
of  the  village  of  Summerville. 

1  The  dwelling-house  still  stands. 


GEORGE  WALTON.  193 

During  the  night  of  the  2d  of  February,  1804,  Judge 
Walton  died  suddenly  at  his  winter  residence,  Meadow 
Garden.  For  many  years  he  had  been  a  martyr  to  the 
gout.  The  death  of  his  eldest  son,  just  entering  upon 
manhood,  well  educated,  amiable,  and  full  of  promise, 
exerted  a  depressing  influence,  and  is  thought  to  have 
hastened  the  demise  of  his  distinguished  father.  Upon 
the  announcement  of  his  dissolution  the  community 
was  profoundly  impressed,  and  united  in  paying  the 
most  marked  funeral  honors.  The  members  of  the 
Eichmond  Bar  convened  at  once,  passed  complimen 
tary  resolutions,  and  arrayed  themselves  in  mourning. 
Upon  the  day  appointed  for  the  funeral  a  procession, 
consisting  of 

"  The  City  Marshal, 

The  Intendant, 

Members  of  the  City  Council, 

The  Sheriff  of  the  County  of  Richmond, 

The  Governor  of  Georgia  and  his  Aids, 

The  Secretaries  of  Departments  and  Clerks, 

Magistrates  and  other  Public  Officers, 

Attendant  Physician  and  Clergymen, 

The  Corpse, 
The  Pall-bearers, 
The  Chief  Mourners, 
Members  of  the    Bar, 
Trustees  of  the  Richmond  Academy, 
Rector,    Assistants,   and    Pupils, 

Citizens  walking  two  and  two, 

The    Company   of  Rangers,   aud 

The   Artillery  firing   Minute  Guns," 

moved  from  Meadow  Garden  through  the  streets  of 
Augusta  and  to  the  family  cemetery  of  Colonel  Robert 
Watkins  at  Rosney,  where  the  remains  of  the  honored 
dead  were  interred.  Nothing  was  omitted  which  could 

13 


194  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

lend  dignity  and  solemnity  to  the  demonstration,  or 
evidence  the  general  sorrow  at  the  departure  of  this 
illustrious  citizen.  Here  the  bones  of  Judge  Walton 
rested  until  their  removal  in  1848,  when,  in  associa 
tion  with  those  of  the  Honorable  Lyman  Hall,  they 
were  inhumed  beneath  the  monument  in  Greene 
Street,  in  front  of  the  Court  House,  in  Augusta,  Geor 
gia,  erected  by  patriotic  hands  in  memory  of  the  Sign 
ers  from  this  Commonwealth  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  The  corner  stone  was  laid  on  the  4th 
of  July  in  that  year  by  the  Masonic  Fraternity  with 
appropriate  rites.  Eloquent  addresses  were  delivered 
by  the  Honorable  William  C.  Dawson  and  by  William 
T.  Gould,  Esquire. 

The  purpose  -was  to  locate  beneath  this  monument 
the  bones  of  all  the  Signers  from  Georgia,  but  the 
grave  of  Button  Gwinnett, —  who  received  his  mortal 
hurt  in  the  duel  with  General  Lachlan  Mclntosh  in 
1777,  —  although  believed  to  be  in  the  old  cemetery 
on  South  Broad  Street,  in  Savannah,  being  without  a 
stone  could  not  be  identified.  The  remains  of  Dr. 
Lyman  Hall  were  readily  obtained  from  the  brick  vault 
on  his  plantation  near  Shell  Bluff,  in  Burke  County. 
Parties  were  still  in  life  who  could  point  out  the  grave 
of  Governor  Walton  in  the  Rosney  cemetery,  although 
unmarked  by  a  monument,  and  in  removing  his  bones 
the  trace  of  the  ball  which  shattered  his  thigh  in  1778 
was  still  apparent  in  the  osseous  structure,  and  in  the 
effort  which  nature  had  made  to  repair  the  injury  then 
sustained.  Dr.  I.  P.  Garvin,  Mayor,  and  Councilmen  Dr. 
L.  A.  Dugas,  Benjamin  Conley,  and  G.  F,  Parish  consti 
tuted  the  committee  from  the  City  Council  of  Augusta 
charged  with  the  collection  of  the  bones  of  the  Signers, 


GEORGE   WALTON.  195 

their  reinterment,  and  the  erection  of  the  memorial 
shaft  above  them. 

After  describing  the  events  which  rendered  the  ob 
servance  of  the  4th  of  July,  1848,  memorable  in  the 
history  of  Augusta,  the  editor  of  "The  Constitutionalist" 
newspaper  concludes  with  these  patriotic  sentiments:  — 

"  We  cannot  close  this  notice  without  alluding  to  the 
interesting  fact  that  the  honored  dust  of  two  of  the 
Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  born  in 
distant  sections  of  the  Union,  now  repose  harmoniously 
together  under  the  stone  which  marks  a  spot  in  our 
city  forever  sacred  and  hallowed. 

"  Let  it  speak  a  monitory  voice  amidst  the  fiercest 
strifes  of  party,  and  in  the  rising  heats  of  sectional 
animosities  which  so  fearfully  threaten  the  destruction 
of  the  good  work  those  immortal  patriots  so  nobly 
planned.  Let  it  act  like  a  talisman  to  still  the  boiling 
passions  and  to  quiet  the  blind  rage  of  party. 

"Lyman  Hall  was  from  the  land  of  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers.  He  was  a  native  of  Connecticut.  He  made 
his  home  upon  Georgia  soil,  and  proved  himself  a 
useful  and  patriotic  citizen.  His  adopted  State  ever 
delighted  to  honor  him  while  living,  and  gratefully 
embalms  his  memory. 

"  George  Walton  also  came  from  another  Colony  to 
Georgia  while  she  was  yet  struggling  in  her  infancy. 
He  was  a  native  of  the  Old  Dominion,  —  of  Frederick 
County,  Virginia.  Thus  does  it  seem  that  in  the  days 
that  tried  men's  souls  there  were  patriots  from  every 
section  of  the  Old  Union,  one  in  principle,  one  in 
feeling,  though  various  skies  smiled  on  their  birth; 
and,  as  a  band  of  brothers,  they  wrought  out  for  us  a 
heritage  of  Freedom  for  which  we  owe  them  a  common 
debt  of  gratitude." 


196  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

It  is  rather  a  singular  fact  that  Judge  Walton,  who 
for  so  many  years  recognized  the  expediency  of  wills 
and  administered  the  laws  appertaining  to  them,  died 
intestate.  Upon  her  application,  submitted  on  the  2d 
of  April,  1804,  administration  upon  his  estate  was 
granted  to  his  widow,  her  bond  being  fixed  at  the  sum 
of  twenty-five  thousand  dollars. 

Alluding  to  the  services  rendered  and  the  honors 
won  by  Judge  Walton,  the  author  of  the  sketch  in 
Sanderson's  "  Biography  of  the  Signers  to  the  Declara 
tion  of  Independence "  says:  "There  are  indeed  few 
men  in  the  United  States  upon  whom  more  extensive 
and  solid  proofs  of  public  confidence  have  been  lavished. 
He  was  six  times  elected  a  Kepresentative  to  Congress, 
twice  Governor  of  the  State,  once  a  Senator  of  the 
United  States,  and  four  times  Judge  of  the  Superior 
Courts;  the  latter  office  he  held  during  fifteen  years 
and  until  the  day  of  his  death.  He  was  one  of  the 
Commissioners  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  to 
negotiate  a  treaty  with  the  Cherokee  Indians  in  Ten 
nessee,  and  several  times  a  member  of  the  State  Legis 
lature."  He  should  have  added  that  he  was  also  Chief 
Justice  of  Georgia. 

In  every  station  he  was  capable  and  conscientious, 
observant  of  the  trust  reposed,  and  conspicuous  in  the 
careful  discharge  of  the  appurtenant  duties.  As  an 
officer  of  the  militia  he  was  prompt  and  energetic, 
displaying  great  gallantry  in  the  presence  of  the 
enemy.  As  a  citizen  he  was  alert,  public-spirited,  firm 
in  his  convictions,  and  courageous  in  the  advocacy  of 
right  and  liberty.  Warm  in  his  attachments,  he  did 
not  hesitate  to  avow  his  enmities. 

Indulging  in  no  temporizing  policy,  he  was  manly 


GEORGE   WALTON.  197 

and  open  in  his  affiliations  and  in  his  dislikes.  Stern 
in  his  conceptions  of  right  and  duty,  he  was  by  nature 
aristocratic  in  his  sentiments,  and  pandered  not  to  the 
whims  of  the  vulgus  commune.  In  no  degree  was  he 
either  a  time-server  or  a  suppliant  for  popular  favor. 
Merit  he  recognized  and  encouraged.  Learning  and 
talent  he  held  in  special  esteem.  Of  quick  temper, 
and  entertaining  a  nice  conception  of  the  proprieties 
of  the  occasion,  he  insisted  upon  a  strict  observance  of 
the  respect  due  to  station,  and  suffered  neither  neglect 
nor  slight  at  the  hands  of  subordinates.  In  conversa 
tion  he  was  terse,  being  partial  to  short  and  compre 
hensive  expressions.  Satire  he  often  employed  with 
marked  effect. 

Generous  in  his  mode  of  living,  much  given  to  study, 
and  neglectful  of  regular  exercise,  before  he  attained 
unto  middle  life  he  became  subject  to  attacks  of  gout 
which  grew  more  frequent  and  violent  as  he  advanced 
in  years,  engendering  much  suffering,  and  in  the  end 
proving  the  cause  of  his  death.  He  often  remarked  to 
his  physician  that  an  entertaining  volume  was  the  most 
effectual  remedy  for  this  malady.  Of  the  society  of 
students  and  the  well  informed  he  was  fond,  and  it  was 
his  delight  to  lead  youthful  minds  in  the  paths  of 
knowledge ;  or,  as  he  expressed  it,  "  to  put  the  young 
beagles  upon  the  track  in  the  chase." 

Among  those  who  pursued  their  legal  studies  under 
his  immediate  counsel  and  instruction  may  be  men 
tioned  the  Honorable  James  Jackson,  afterwards  United 
States  Senator  from  and  Governor  of  Georgia.1 

Seldom  exempt  from  the  claims  of  public  affairs,  he 
evinced  little  desire  for  the  accumulation  of  wealth. 

1  T.  U.  P.  Charlton's  Life  of  Major- General  James  Jackson,  p.  49.  Au 
gusta,  Georgia,  1809. 


198  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

His  salary,  supplemented  by  a  small  income  from  his 
farm,  sufficed  for  the  comfortable  maintenance  of  him 
self  and  family.  When  not  engaged  in  the  discharge 
of  official  duties  he  spent  most  of  his  time  in  his  study. 
His  books  were  his  constant  and  his  favorite  compan 
ions.  "  Come,  my  best  friends,  my  books,  and  lead  me 
on,"  seemed  his  ever-recurring  salutation.  His  early 
thirst  for  knowledge  remained  unabated  until  the  end 
of  his  life. 

Only  one  son  —  George  Walton,  commissioned  Sec 
ond  Lieutenant  in  the  Second  Regiment  of  Light  Artil 
lery  in  May,  1808  —  survived  him.  While  a  resident 
of  Pensacola  he  received,  on  the  17th  of  May,  1822, 
from  Andrew  Jackson,  the  appointment  of  "  Secretary 
in  and  for  the  Territory  of  East  Florida."  He  subse 
quently  removed  to  Mobile,  Alabama.  He  was  the 
father  of  Octavia  Walton,  who,  as  Madame  Le  Yert, 
attained  prominence  in  the  social  and  literary  world. 

Comely  in  person,  dignified  and  reserved  in  his 
manners,  Judge  Walton  was  a  marked  personage  in 
any  assembly.  Of  his  features  excellent  memory  has 
been  preserved  by  a  miniature  painted  by  the  elder 
Peale,  now  treasured  by  the  Signer's  great-great-grand 
son,  Master  George  Walton  Reab,  of  Summerville,  near 
Augusta,  Georgia.  It  was  from  this  likeness  that  the 
engraved  portrait  was  made  which  forms  one  of  the 
illustrations  of  the  writer's  second  volume  of  the  "  His 
tory  of  Georgia." 

This  Commonwealth  has  named  one  of  her  counties 
in  honor  of  this  patriot,  who,  as  soldier,  statesman,  judge, 
legislator,  senator,  governor,  and  signer,  rendered  ser 
vice  varied  and  most  valuable,  leaving  an  impress 
upon  his  age  and  generation  which  has  suffered  no 
oblivion  at  the  hands  of  intervening  years. 


JOHN   WALTON. 

WITH  regard  to  this  member  of  the  old  Congress 
we  have  been  able  to  gather  but  little  information. 
A  brother  of  the  Honorable  George  Walton,  he  was 
born  in  Virginia  about  1738.  To  the  Provincial  Con 
gress  which  assembled  at  Savannah  on  the  4th  of  July, 
1775,  he  was  a  Delegate  representing  the  Parish  of  St. 
Paul.  On  the  20th  of  July  of  the  previous  year,  in 
association  with  Noble  W.  Jones,  Archibald  Bulloch, 
and  John  Iloustoun,  he  signed  the  public  call  which 
convoked  the  liberty-loving  citizens  of  Georgia,  under 
the  eye  and  in  defiance  of  the  protest  of  the  Eoyal 
Governor.  Of  the  Executive  Council,  chosen  when 
John  Adam  Treutlen  was  elected  first  Eepublican  Gov 
ernor,  he  was  a  member.  By  the  General  Assembly  of 
Georgia  Mr.  Walton  was,  on  the  2Gth  of  February, 
1778,  commissioned  as  a  Delegate  to  the  Continental 
Congress. 

His  home  was  then  at  New  Savannah,  situated  in 
the  county  of  Richmond,  on  the  Savannah  River,  not 
many  miles  below  the  town  of  Augusta.  Here  he 
owned  and  cultivated  a  plantation,  the  principal  market 
crop  of  which  was  indigo.  As  we  write,  one  of  his  let 
ters  lies  before  us,  written  from  this  place,  dated  on 
the  21st  of  January,  1777,  and  addressed  to  the  Honor 
able  Edward  Telfair.  In  this  communication  Mr.  Walton 
advises  that  gentleman  of  a  shipment  of  indigo  he  had 
recently  made  to  him,  and  bespeaks  his  best  efforts  in 
effecting  advantageous  sale  of  the* consignment. 


200          BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

For  a  number  of  years  Mr.  Walton  held  the  office  of 
Surveyor  of  Richmond  County.  He  died  at  New  Sa 
vannah  in  1783.  His  will  is  now  of  file  in  the  Ordi 
nary's  Office  in  Augusta.  It  is  dated  the  llth  of  June, 
1778,  and  was  admitted  to  probate  on  the  24th  of 
June,  1783.  George  Walton,  William  Glascock,  and 
Britton  Dawson  were  named  as  executors.  He  left  a 
considerable  estate,  consisting  of  lands  and  negroes. 
The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Elizabeth  Claiborne. 
Several  children  were  born  of  this  marriage,  and  their 
descendants  may  be  found  in  Georgia  to  the  present 
day. 


JOSEPH   WOOD. 

HE  is  said  to  have  been  a  Pennsylvania!!  by  birth. 
In  1774  he  was  a  resident  of  the  town  of  Sunbury,  in 
the  Parish  of  St.  John  and  State  of  Georgia.  Repudi 
ating  the  conclusions  of  the  Provincial  meeting  of  the 
10th  of  August,  1774,  which,  although  patriotic  in  their 
character,  did  not  culminate  in  placing  Georgia  in  full 
affiliation  with  her  twelve  sisters  and  in  commissioning 
Delegates  to  the  Continental  Congress,  the  inhabitants 
of  the  Parish  of  St.  John  resolved  to  act  independently 
and  in  advance  of  the  rest  of  the  Colony.  On  the  9th 
of  February,  Joseph  Wood,  Daniel  Roberts,  and  Sam 
uel  Stevens —  members  of  the  Parish  committee  —  were 
deputed  with  a  carefully  prepared  letter  to  repair  to 
Charlestown  and  request  of  the  Committee  of  Corre 
spondence  their  "  permission  to  form  an  alliance  with 
them,  and  to  conduct  trade  and  commerce  according  to 
the  act  of  non-importation  to  which  they  had  already 
acceded." 

Reaching  Charlestown  on  the  23d  of  February, 
Messrs.  Wood,  Roberts,  and  Stevens  waited  upon  the 
General  Committee  and  earnestly  endeavored  to  accom 
plish  their  mission.  While  admiring  the  patriotism  of 
.the  Parish,  and  entreating  its  citizens  to  persevere  in 
their  laudable  exertions,  the  Carolinians,  deeming  it  "  a 
violation  of  the  Continental  Association  to  remove  the 
prohibition  in  favor  of  any  part  of  a  Province,"  declined 
the  application. 

b 


202  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

Nothing  daunted,  the  inhabitants  of  St.  John's  Par 
ish  "resolved  to  prosecute  their  claims  to  an  equality 
with  the  Confederated  Colonies,"  and  commissioned 
Dr.  Lyman  Hall  to  represent  them  in  the  Continental 
Congress.  Returning  to  Pennsylvania  during  the  early 
portion  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  Mr.  Wood  entered 
the  Continental  service  with  the  Second  Pennsylvania 
Regiment.  His  promotion  was  rapid.  He  was  advanced 
to  a  Majority  on  the  4th  of  January,  1776,  to  a  Lieu 
tenant-Colonelcy  on  the  29th  of  July  in  the  same  year, 
and  to  a  full  Colonelcy  on  the  7th  of  September,  1776. 

Toward  the  close  of  that  year,  Colonel  Wood  was 
again  in  Georgia,  where  he  was  cordially  welcomed.  In 
January,  1777,  he  was  elected  a  Delegate  from  Georgia 
to  the  Continental  Congress,  and  this  compliment  was 
repeated  in  February  of  the  following  year. 

His  plantation  was  on  North  New  Port  River,  not  far 
from  the  village  of  Riceboro,  in  Liberty  County  (for 
merly  St.  John's  Parish).  The  tradition  of  Colonel 
Wood's  unblemished  life  and  manly  virtues  still  lingers 
in  the  community.  Joseph  Wood  departed  this  life  at 
his  plantation  in  Liberty  County,  Georgia,  in  1791. 
His  will  was  probated  on  the  2d  of  October  in  that 
year.  His  widow,  Catholina,  two  sons,  John  and  Jacob, 
and  two  daughters,  Hester  and  Elizabeth,  are  therein 
named  as  legatees  and  devisees. 


JOHN  JOACHIM  ZUBLY. 

A  NATIVE  of  St.  Gall,  Switzerland,  where  he  was  born 
on  the  27th  of  August,  1724,  Mr.  Zubly  was  engaged 
in  the  discharge  of  clerical  duties  at  Wando  Neck,  in 
the  Province  of  South  Carolina,  when,  on  the  25th  of 
April,  1758,  he  received  and  accepted  a  call  to  a  large 
and  influential  Presbyterian  congregation  in  Savannah, 
Georgia.  It  was  not,  however,  until  1760  that  he  en 
tered  fully  upon  his  pastoral  charge  of  that  Independent 
Presbyterian  Church.  He  was  a  clergyman  of  marked 
ability,  eloquence,  and  learning  ;  preaching  with  equal 
ease  and  power  in  the  German,  French,  and  English 
languages.  A  rigid  disciple  of  Calvin,  he  was  tireless 
in  the  discharge  of  his  professional  labors.  Under  his 
guidance,  his  congregation  became  the  most  numerous 
and  popular  within  the  limits  of  Georgia.  In  1770  he 
was  complimented  by  Princeton  College  with  the  de 
gree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity. 

By  an  act  of  the  Colonial  Legislature,  approved  on 
the  17th  of  March,  1758,  Georgia  was  divided  into 
Parishes,  and  the  patronage  of  the  Crown  was  specially 
extended  in  aid  of  churches  professing  the  Episcopal 
faith.  While  not  favored  by  exclusive  recognition,  the 
purpose  appeared  to  be  to  accord  to  that  denomina 
tion,  within  the  limits  of  Georgia,  a  prestige  akin  to 
that  which  the  Church  of  England  enjoyed  within 
the  realm  ;  to  create  certain  offices  and  provide  emolu 
ments  for  the  encouragement  of  that  religious  persua- 


204  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

sion,  and  the  extension  of  the  gospel  in  accordance 
with  its  forms  of  worship  and  mode  of  government ; 
and  to  prescribe  a  method  by  which  faithful  registers 
of  births,  marriages,  christenings,  and  deaths  might  be 
kept  and  perpetuated.  Numerous  were  the  Dissenters 
then  in  the  Province.  They  were  represented  by  Pres 
byterians,  Lutherans,  Congregationalists,  Methodists, 
a  few  Baptists,  and  some  Hebrews.  To  all  sects  save 
Papists  was  free  toleration  accorded ;  and  whenever  a 
Dissenting  congregation  organized  and  applied  for  a 
grant  of  land  whereon  to  build  a  church,  the  petition 
did  not  pass  unheeded.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  how 
ever,  that  it  was  the  intention  of  the  Government, 
both  Royal  and  Colonial,  to  engraft  the  Church  of  Eng 
land  upon  the*  Province,  and,  within  certain  limits, 
to  advance  its  prosperity  and  insure  its  permanency. 
At  the  same  time  an  adherence  to  its  rubrics  was  in  no 
wise  made  a  condition  precedent  to  political  preferment. 
Despite  the  advantage  thus  enjoyed  by  the  Episco 
pal  Church,  so  popular  was  Mr.  Zubly  as  a  preacher, 
and  so  acceptable  were  his  ministrations,  that  he  soon 
attracted  many  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Savannah. 
So  catholic  were  his  views,  so  pronounced  was  the 
interest  which  he  exhibited  in  public  affairs,  and  so 
manifest  were  his  sympathies  with  the  protestants 
against  the  arbitrary  acts  of  Parliament  that  his  influ 
ence  as  a  citizen  and  a  lover  of  liberty  was  felt  beyond 
the  limits  of  his  pulpit  and  congregation.  As  a  com 
pliment  to  the  man,  and  to  the  position  which  he  then 
occupied,  he  was  elected  a  Delegate  to  the  Provincial 
Congress  which  assembled  in  Savannah  on  the  4th 
of  July,  1775.  Before  and  at  the  opening  of  that 
Congress,  he  delivered  a  sermon  on  American  affairs, 


JOHN  JOACHIM   ZUBLY.  205 

entitled  "  The  Law  of  Liberty,"  which  may  be  accepted 
as  a  fair  specimen  of  the  composition  and  manly  thought 
of  this  eloquent  and  accomplished  divine.  When 
printed  by  Henry  Miller,  of  Philadelphia,  it  was  pre 
faced  by  a  forcible  and  conclusive  plea  for  the  liberties 
of  America,  embodied  in  a  communication  addressed 
by  Mr.  Zubly  to  the  Right  Honorable  the  Earl  of  Dart 
mouth. 

By  this  Congress  Dr.  Zubly,  in  association  with  John 
Houstoun,  Archibald  Bulloch,  Noble  W.  Jones,  and  Dr. 
Lyman  Hall,  was  chosen  to  represent  the  Province  of 
Georgia  in  the  Continental  Congress.  Upon  a  sugges 
tion  from  him  that  he  was  greatly  surprised  at  being 
selected  as  a  Delegate,  and  that  he  could  not  accept 
the  honor  without  the  consent  of  his  congregation, 
Messrs.  Noble  W.  Jones  and  John  Houstoun  were  ap 
pointed  a  committee  to  interview  the  members  of  Dr. 
Zubly's  church  and  request  their  permission  that  he 
absent  himself  from  his  charge  for  a  season,  in  order 
that  he  might  perform  the  important  duties  devolved 
upon  him  by  the  Congress.  Four  days  afterwards  those 
gentlemen  reported  that  they  had  conferred  with  the 
congregation,  and  that  the  members  expressed  a  wil 
lingness  "  to  spare  their  minister  for  a  time  for  the  good 
of  the  common  cause."  Dr.  Zubly  thereupon  declared 
his  acceptance  of  the  appointment,  and  thanked  the 
Congress  for  this  mark  of  honor  and  confidence. 

By  this  Congress  the  Reverend  Doctor  Zubly  was 
placed  upon  four  important  committees,  —  one  to  pre 
pare  a  petition  to  the  King  "  upon  the  present  un 
happy  situation  of  affairs  ;  "  another  to  address  a  letter 
to  the  President  of  the  Continental  Congress,  acquaint 
ing  him  fully  writh  the  proceedings  of  this  Provincial 


206  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

Congress;  a  third  to  frame  an  address  to  His  Excel 
lency  Governor  Wright ;  and  a  fourth  to  constitute  a 
Committee  of  Intelligence. 

From  the  addresses  then  prepared  we  reproduce  the 
following :  — 

"  To  THE  INHABITANTS  OF  THE  PROVINCE  OF  GEORGIA  : 

"  FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN,  —  We  are  directed  to  transmit 
to  you  an  account  of  the  present  state  of  American 
affairs,  as  well  as  the  proceedings  of  the  late  Provincial 
Congress. 

"  It  is  with  great  sorrow  we  are  to  acquaint  you 
that  what  our  fears  suggested,  but  our  reason  thought 
impossible,  is  actually  come  to  pass. 

"  A  civil  war  in  America  is  begun.  Several  engage 
ments  have  already  happened.  The  friends  and  foes 
of  America  have  been  equally  disappointed.  The 
friends  of  America  were  in  hopes  British  troops  could 
never  be  induced  to  slay  their  brethren.  It  is,  how 
ever,  done,  and  the  circumstances  are  such  as  must  be 
an  everlasting  blot  on  their  character  for  humanity  and 
generosity.  An  unfeeling  commander  has  found  means 
to  inspire  his  troops  with  the  same  evil  spirit  that 
possesseth  himself.  After  the  starving,  helpless,  inno 
cent  inhabitants  of  Boston  delivered  up  their  arms  and 
received  his  promise  that  they  might  leave  that  virtu 
ous,  devoted  town,  he  is  said  to  have  broke  his  word  ; 
and  the  wretched  inhabitants  are  still  kept  to  fall  a 
prey  to  disease,  famine,  and  confinement.  If  there  are 
powers  which  abhor  injustice  and  oppression,  it  may 
be  hoped  such  perfidy  cannot  go  long  unpunished. 

"  But  the  enemies  of  America  have  been  no  less  dis 
appointed.  Nothing  was  so  contemptible  in  their  eyes 


JOHN  JOACHIM   ZUBLY.  207 

as  the  rabble  of  an  American  militia ;  nothing  more 
improbable  than  that  they  would  dare  to  look  regulars 
in  the  face,  or  stand  a  single  fire.  By  this  time  they 
must  have  felt  how  much  they  were  mistaken.  In 
every  engagement  the  Americans  appeared  with  a 
bravery  worthy  of  men  that  fight  for  the  liberties  of 
their  oppressed  country.  Their  success  has  been  re 
markable  ;  the  number  of  the  slain  and  wounded  on 
every  occasion  vastly  exceeded  theirs ;  and  the  advan 
tages  they  gained  are  the  more  honourable  because, 
with  a  patience  that  scarce  has  an  example,  they  bore 
every  act  of  injustice  and  insult  till  their  lives  were 
attacked,  and  then  gave  the  fullest  proof  that  the  man 
of  calmness  and  moderation  in  counsel  is  usually  the 
most  intrepid  and  courageous  in  battle. 

"You  will  doubtless  lament  with  us  the  hundreds 
that  died  in  their  country's  cause ;  but  does  it  not  call 
for  greater  sorrow  that  thousands  of  British  soldiers 
sought  and  found  their  deaths  when  they  were  active 
to  enslave  their  brethren  and  their  country?  How 
ever  irritating  all  these  proceedings,  yet  so  unnatural 
is  this  quarrel  that  every  good  man  must  wish  and 
pray  that  it  may  soon  cease  ;  that  the  injured  rights 
of  America  may  be  vindicated  by  milder  means ;  and 
that  no  more  blood  may  be  shed,  unless  it  be  of  those 
who  fomented,  and  mean  to  make  an  advantage  of, 
these  unhappy  divisions. 

"  From  the  proceedings  of  the  Congress,  a  copy  of 
which  accompanies  the  present,  you  will  be  convinced 
that  a  reconciliation  on  honorable  principles  is  an 
object  which  your  Delegates  never  lost  sight  of.  We 
have  sent  an  humble  and  manly  petition  to  his  Ma- 
jesty ;  addressed  his  representative,  our  Governor ;  pro- 


208  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 

vided,  as  far  as  in  our  power,  for  internal  quiet  and 
safety;  and  Delegates  will  soon  attend  the  General 
Congress  to  assist  and  cooperate  in  any  measure  that 
shall  be  thought  necessary  for  the  saving  of  America. 

"  His  Excellency,  at  our  request,  having  appointed 
the  19th  inst.  as  a  Day  of  Humiliation,  and  news  being 
afterwards  received  that  the  Continental  Congress  had 
recommended  the  20th  inst.  to  be  observed  as  such, 
both  days  have  been  observed  with  a  becoming  solem 
nity  ;  and  we  humbly  hope  many  earnest  prayers  have 
been  presented  to  the  Father  of  Mercies  on  that  day 
through  this  extensive  continent,  and  that  He  has 
heard  the  cries  of  the  destitute,  and  will  not  despise 
their  prayers. 

"You  will  permit  us  most  earnestly  to  recommend 
to  you  a  steady  perseverance  in  the  cause  of  Liberty, 
and  that  you  will  use  all  possible  caution  not  to  say 
or  do  anything  unworthy  of  so  glorious  a  cause  ;  to 
promote  frugality,  peace,  and  good  order ;  and,  in  the 
practice  of  every  social  and  religious  duty,  patiently 
to  wait  the  return  of  that  happy  day  when  we  may 
quietly  sit  under  our  vine  and  fig-tree,  and  no  man 
make  us  afraid." 

We  make  no  apology  for  presenting  this  address  in 
extenso,  because  with  its  composition  the  pen  of  Dr. 
Zubly  is  credited,  and  because  it  shows  how  earnestly, 
at  this  epoch  in  his  career,  his  sympathies  were  en 
listed  in  behalf  of  American  freedom. 

Of  the  five  Delegates  thus  selected  by  the  Provincial 
Congress  to  represent  Georgia  in  the  Continental  Con 
gress,  Messrs.  Zubly,  Bulloch,  and  Houstoun  repaired 
to  Philadelphia,  and  participated  in  the  deliberations 


JOHN  JOACHIM  ZUBLY.  209 

of  that  body,  at  an  adjourned  session  held  in  Septem 
ber.  Dr.  Lyman  Hall,  who  had  been  present  at  a 
previous  meeting  as  a  Delegate  commissioned  by  the 
Parish  of  St.  Paul,  was  now  absent ;  and  Dr.  Noble  W. 
Jones,  than  whom  the  "  Sons  of  Liberty  "  claimed  none 
more  competent,  courageous,  and  accomplished,  —  in 
deference  to  the  entreaties  of  his  aged  father,.  Colonel 
Noble  Jones,  a  faithful  servant  of  the  Crown,  who, 
trembling  upon  the  verge  of  the  grave,  bespoke  the 
companionship  of  his  distinguished  and  devoted  son, 
—  postponed  for  the  while  his  service  to  the  Province 
in  this  prominent  capacity,  that  he  might  respond  to 
his  filial  obligations. 

Georgia  was  ably  represented.  From  the  inception 
of  the  disagreements  between  Great  Britain  and  her 
American  Colonies,  Archibald  Bulloch  had  been  a  firm 
friend  to  the  liberties  of  America.  No  one  stood 
higher  in  the  respect  and  affection  of  his  fellow-citi 
zens,  and  for  him  the  most  pronounced  honors  were 
in  store.  John  Houstoun,  too,  was  among  the  most 
zealous  advocates  of  the  rights  of  the  Colonies.  Of 
honorable  descent  and  liberal  education,  of  admitted 
bravery  and  commanding  influence,  his  memory  is  as 
sociated  with  some  of  the  best  traditions  of  the  epoch, 
and  of  the  community  in  which  he  dwelt. 

Of  the  early  labors  of  the  Reverend  Dr.  Zubly  in 
the  cause  of  freedom,  education,  and  religion,  we  may 
not  speak  except  in  praise.  His  course  in  the  first 
Continental  Congress  which  he  attended  was  consis 
tent  and  patriotic.  The  acceptable  pastor  of  a  large 
Presbyterian  congregation  in  Savannah,  —  scholarly, 
gifted  in  speech,  public-spirited,  and  of  marked  abil 
ity,  —  his  voice  and  pen  had  been  freely  employed  in 

14 


210  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

the  vindication  of  the  rights  of  the  Colonies  against 
the  encroachments  of  Parliament.  Discussing  the  sug 
gestions  made  in  England  to  arm  the  slaves  in  order 
to  reduce  their  masters  to  obedience  to  British  rule,  he 
wrote  to  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth  as  follows :  "  Proposals 
publicly  made  by  ministerial  writers  relative  to  Ameri 
can  domestics  laid  the  Southern  Provinces  under  the 
necessity  of  arming  themselves.  A  proposal  to  put  it 
in  the  power  of  domestics  to  cut  the  throats  of  their 
masters  can  only  serve  to  cover  the  proposers  and 
abettors  with  everlasting  infamy.  The  Americans 
have  been  called  '  a  rope  of  sand,'  but  blood  and  sand 
will  make  a  firm  cementation ;  and  enough  American 
blood  has  been  already  shed  to  cement  them  together 
into  a  threefold  cord  not  easily  to  be  broken."  In 
the  deliberations  and  utterances  of  the  Provincial 
Congress  in  Savannah  no  member  had  borne  a  more 
prominent  part. 

When,  however,  at  a  subsequent  session  of  the  Con 
tinental  Congress,  he  found  himself  confronted  with  a 
determination  on  the  part  of  its  members  to  sever  the 
ties  binding  the  American  Colonies  to  the  Mother 
Country,  and  to  erect  on  these  shores  a  separate,  inde 
pendent,  and  republican  confederation,  his  heart  failed 
him,  and,  opening  a  correspondence  with  Sir  James 
Wright,  he  revealed  to  him  the  plans  of  Congress,  and 
warned  him  of  the  impending  rupture.  His  conduct 
and  language  exciting  suspicion,  he  was  watched,  and 
one  of  his  treasonable  letters  was  seized.  This  fact  was 
brought  to  the  notice  of  Congress  by  Mr.  Chase,  of 
Maryland.  So  alarmed  became  Dr.  Zubly  that,  precip 
itately  abandoning  his  seat,  he  returned  to  Georgia, 
where,  taking  sides  against  the  liberty  people,  he 


JOHN  JOACHIM  ZUBLY.  211 

became  so  obnoxious  that,  in  1777,  he  was  banished 
from  Savannah,  with  the  loss  of  half  his  estate.  Taking 
refuge  in  South  Carolina,  he  there  remained  until  the 
Koyal  government  was.  in  17 79,  reestablished  in  South 
ern  Georgia.  Then,  returning  to  Savannah,  he  re 
sumed  his  ministerial  labors,  and  there  abode  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  on  the  23d  of  July,  1781.  Bro 
ken  in  heart  and  fortune,  the  latest  years  of  his  life 
involved  a  ceaseless  struggle  with  misfortune.  "His 
political  defection,"  says  Dr.  Stevens,  "  while  it  did  no 
harm  to  Georgia  or  the  Colonies,  brought  misery  upon 
himself  and  family,  and  tarnished  a  name  which  shone 
among  the  earlier  patriots  of  Georgia  with  peculiar 
brightness.  Savannah  still  bears  the  record  of  this 
learned  man  in  the  names  of  two  of  its  streets,  '  Joa 
chim  '  and  '  Zubly,'  and  one  of  the  hamlets  of  the  city 
is  called  '  St.  Gall/  in  honor  of  his  birthplace  in  Swit 
zerland." 

His  declaration,  in  his  place  in  the  Continental  Con 
gress,  that  "  a  republic  was  little  better  than  a  gov 
ernment  of  devils,"  and  his  subsequent  desertion  of 
his  post  to  seek  shelter  under  the  authority  of  the 
Crown,  were  but  the  prelude  to  imhappiness,  disgrace, 
and  an  early  grave. 

There  was  an  oil  portrait  of  this  member  of  the  Old 
Congress,  but  unfortunately,  many  years  ago,  it  was 
accidentally  destroyed  by  fire. 


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